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I am thrilled to share that within the next few months, I will be adding another title to my role here at Healthful Elements  – Nutrition Coach!

As some of you may know, I was a client of Jill’s about two years ago. I came to our sessions with a decent background in holistic and sustainable eating, but Jill expanded my knowledge greatly, particularly as to the role it played in treating hypothyroidism, adrenal dysfunction, and hormonal imbalances. 

When our program ended, I had become more empowered, enlightened, and healthier, and I was inspired to continue educating myself on the power of whole foods, and the diet and lifestyle habits that would bring me greater balance and healing. When my program with Jill ended, my education had just begun.

This past January, I saw Jill was looking to hire an assistant for her growing business. At that point, I had some extra time on my hands and was eager to contribute to a cause I believed in and to work with someone I liked and trusted. And I viewed the position as an opportunity to deepen my knowledge and commitment to holistic health, even if just by osmosis, from being in Jill’s presence. Little I did know where that would lead…

With Jill’s support and encouragement, shortly after starting to work for Healthful Elements, I enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition  – which Jill also attended. 

I will become certified as a Holistic Nutrition Coach this fall. Without a doubt, I want to serve Healthful Elements’ thyroid, adrenal, and hormone clients, but I have one more motivation. One that is closest to my heart.

My oldest baby has Type 1 Diabetes. (This photo is of the two of us at last year’s JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.) He was diagnosed more than three years ago, on his 6th birthday. To say that a Type 1 diagnosis is devastating, gut-wrenchingly scary, and life-altering is no understatement. Our lives changed forever with the words, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but he has diabetes.”

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease, just like my Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Sadly, however, there is no way to halt or tame permanently the immune system’s attack on the pancreas (the organ that produces insulin). Thus, unlike someone with Hashimoto’s, my son would die without medication (insulin). Prior to the discovery of injectable insulin in 1922, every child diagnosed with diabetes died within one year. 

But insulin is not a cure; it’s simply a treatment, and not a fool-proof one. If my son receives too much insulin without sufficient carbohydrates, he will die. And despite maintaining an insulin regimen, diabetics still face serious, long-term complications, such as cardiac disease, nerve damage, eye damage, and osteoporosis. The likelihood of such complications depends on how well a diabetic’s blood sugars are managed.

Insulin is the critical component to maintaining healthy blood sugars for people with Type 1, but there are countless dietary and lifestyle factors that can minimize the amount of insulin required and help the body use it as effectively and efficiently as possible. The food my son eats, along with the other strategies we have implemented, are keeping him healthy and happy, and will continue to do so until the cure is found. 

Within the next couple of months, I’ll share the story of my son’s diagnosis. I’ll tell you all about the challenges we faced when informing the dietician in our endocrinologist’s office that we ate primarily whole foods, rather than processed foods with “nutrition” labels. I’ll describe how I scoured the web in search of “diabetic friendly” recipes that didn’t include artificial sweeteners. I’ll talk openly about the failures we’ve experienced and the mistakes we’ve made. 

Simply put, there just aren’t a lot of resources to guide holistically-minded, CSA-junkies who are raising a kid with diabetes. I have put my law degree to good use these last few years, researching and reviewing everything I could find about managing blood sugars and holistic nutrition, and thus when I begin my practice as a Holistic Nutrition Coach with Healthful Elements, I intend to become that resource for others.

And because a pancreas should be treated with tender loving care, we will also be offering a coaching program for Type 2 diabetics and “pre-diabetics” to assist them in avoiding insulin dependence.