Have you heard of Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches? While the name may not be as famous as the traditional Nutritionists or Health Coaches, Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches also work in the same field – Nutrition and Wellness – except that they follow a different philosophy. Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches do not simply focus on quick fixes. Rather, they cultivate healthy habits in their clients for long-term good health and wellness.
What Would an Integrative Nutrition Program Look Like?
An Integrative Nutrition Program is two-fold. The first is the ideology behind the program, which is every client is a bio-individual who has specific and unique needs. Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches believe that each client has his/her own anatomy, genetic makeup, and metabolism. To create a one-size-fits-all program for all their clients would be unfair. Take, for example, a plant diet. This may work for some but not for everyone.
The second is to help clients achieve small wins throughout the program, rather than enable them to feel like they always have a big mountain to climb before making any progress. It is true that any diet program can be overwhelming to anyone who wants to lose weight. This is why the Integrative Nutrition program focuses on small achievable changes.
What’s the duration of a program? It can be three to six months, depending on the needs and goals of the client. And how is that determined? The first consultation is when the first assessment happens. Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches ask clients to rate their level of satisfaction for the Primary Foods in their lives, which are sleep, exercise, education, spirituality, relationships, and career. They use a tool called the Circle of Life, which is a series of thoughtful questions and discussions to help clients make their self-assessments.
While the first step is focused more on the lifestyle, Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches also look into their clients’ diets through reviewing their Secondary Foods. Both Primary and Secondary foods work together to achieve a person’s well-being, which makes it all the more important for Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches to look into both closely.
Therefore, when it comes to developing Integrative Nutrition programs for clients, health coaches consider both the unique lifestyle and dietary needs of a client. They create goals for healthy changes and approach the program holistically.
Who Will Benefit the Most from Integrative Nutrition?
Clients are not segregated based on whom the Integrative Nutrition program will work best. That’s the beauty of this approach, everyone can benefit from it. Nonetheless, people who are already suffering from chronic illnesses like arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, hormonal imbalances, or heart disease may want to consider Integrative Nutrition.
Aside from simply taking prescribed medications for treatment, an Integrative Nutrition program that will look into the lifestyle of a specific patient may greatly help in the treatment. Usually, the mainstream medical practice focuses on treating the symptoms and may fail to look at the other areas of one’s lifestyle and diet that can contribute to the disease. Often, doctors aren’t also equipped to give nutritional advice to patients as this is not their specialty. So to give patients the best chance of treatment and recovery, it is ideal to look beyond the symptoms.
What about young adults? Integrative Nutrition can be very helpful to them. When you start them young, they learn to develop healthy eating and lifestyle habits early on. Young adults between the ages of 12 and 18 are the ones who may struggle the most because of the change happening to their bodies. This makes it a great time to communicate with them about making the right food choices and healthy lifestyle habits that would nourish their good health for many years to come.
Moreover, Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches also help young adults develop a healthy mindset. Growing up with social media everywhere, young adults are more self-conscious than ever.
For the Long Haul
The important takeaway is this. Integrative Nutrition doesn’t promise dramatic and sudden transformations overnight. Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches work with clients to make healthy and lasting changes in their lifestyle and dietary habits to ensure a fulfilling, enjoyable, and healthy life ahead.