“I became my own experiment,” Katie LeBlanc says, about her foray into an autoimmune diagnosis that left her scrambling for answers, “I tried a lot of different diets and lifestyle interventions and finally figured out what worked for me. I was able to reach remission with my disease without medication.”

As a PhD and holistic nutritionist. that’s what Katie hopes to help her clients with -- how to achieve optimum health through diet and lifestyle… so her clients can live medicine-free if they wish.

But what does this say about the relationship between holistic nutritionists and western medicine?

Holistic nutritionist vs the bad scary doctors?

“I’m definitely not anti-medication,” Katie says, “I think eventually you'll get to the stage where nutritionists and dieticians do become an important factor in healthcare, in the traditional medical community.”

Katie sees herself as a bridge for patients -- the bridge that helps them balance modern medicine protocols with a healthy lifestyle and diet.

“I like fostering those conversations and making it holistic, but also understanding that medication can play a really important role too and working with all practitioners to understand the best way forward for each client.”

“The Best Way Forward for Each Client”: How Katie Meets Individual Client Needs

“One big myth is that there's one specific diet that's going to heal all auto-immune disease, which really isn't the case. Everyone is so individual.”

You’ll never find Katie touting the vegan diet for everyone, or a blanket eating pattern across the board. She works individually with each client to unearth their perfect diet, for where they are in their life right now.

“Someone might feel really great on a paleo diet while someone else might feel really great on a vegan diet. And it really just comes down to the state of your gut and your body at a specific time. And you might feel good on one diet for a year or two and then you might need to switch it up to a different type of diet. So I think the myth that you have to follow a specific diet for your entire life, if you do live with an autoimmune disease is definitely not true.”

You’d think Katie would have to work extra hard to meet these diverse dietary needs, right?

Thankfully, she has a tool for that.

Nutrition Practice Management That Treats Clients As Individuals

“Meal Garden has so many options for recipes I can tailor to each individual client…. I love searching through all the recipes and then editing them to suit my individual clients.”

Still not sure about how Meal Planning fits in your holistic nutrition business?

“Meal planning is really important because it can be so overwhelming when you're trying to change your dietary habits and not know exactly where to search on the internet for the best recipes,” Says Katie, “Or becoming comfortable with taking a recipe and editing it yourself. So I work with teaching how to do that and how to substitute certain ingredients if you're avoiding something at a particular time.”

Picking up what Katie’s putting down? Check out her website for research-backed information on how diet can help your clients overcome autoimmune disease by going to Restoringautoimmunehealth.com.

(Psst — using nutrition practice software can save time and help you connect closely with each nutrition client, offering them the personalized nutrition attention they need to get real results. Meal Garden makes it possible to create, curate, and share dietitian-approved recipes, and modify meals and collections based on each client’s unique needs. Why wait? It’s free to join.)

inspiration, Client Engagement

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