When it comes to healthy ageing, Dani is your go-to praccie.
Healthy ageing refers to ‘the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age’ (WHO).
So, basically we want to support you to:
- Have good energy levels
- Have good mood regulation
- Sleep well
- Support your digestive system
- Keep you active
- Keep you pain-free
- Support your focus & memory
- Work on reducing the risk of the development of preventable disease
What’s most important is that you are able to continue to enjoy your life! Ageing should not be what holds you back from playing with your grandkids, travelling, moving your body, feeling like yourself and most importantly being happy.
What happens in a healthy ageing consultation?
When you come to see Dani for an Initial Consultation it might be because you’re wanting to maintain wellness as you age, or it might be because you have some niggly symptoms that are getting in the way of you being able to do what you want to do. What really sets Nutritionists and Naturopaths apart is that we want to understand you as an individual. To do this, Dani will ask you lots of questions about:
- What brought you in to the clinic?
- Exploring your goals is the most important thing to us
- What’s happening in your body right now?
- Bodies are such complex things and it’s really important to understand that nothing is happening in isolation – your gut health plays a role in your mental health, your gut health affects your ability to break down foods into nutrients which could be affecting your energy levels, your nervous system impacts your sleep – and so on!
- How are you fuelling your body?
- It can be really easy to eat less or opt for simple meals that lack essential nutrients as we age. The kids grow up and especially if we are living alone. On top of this, the information that we have available on what makes up a healthy diet has changed incredibly over the years as science has developed (particularly more recently). Dani will conduct a thorough nutritional assessment for you to ensure that you are meeting your daily requirements. She will likely get you to do a diet diary prior to your first consultation.
- Specific nutrients are really important in ageing – such as calcium and vitamin D which are essential for bone health and osteoporosis prevention
- How are you moving your body?
- Having appropriate levels of the right type of exercise is really important, particularly as we age. Dani can help to support you in exploring the right avenues with this.
- Is there anything getting in the way of you moving your body? Dani can support you to reduce pain levels.
At the end of the consultation, Dani will start to put together a prescription for you looking at:
- Specific foods to include in your diet for your unique needs
- Foods to avoid
- Nutritional supplements to support you, where appropriate & when this is something that you are open to
- Providing basic guidelines on the type and quantity of movement recommended for you + where to go for further guidance with this
As a part of all consultations Dani & I are always assessing for anything that may require further investigation from your GP or another member of your health-care team. An important part of healthy ageing is preventive care.
What is preventive care?
Preventative care refers to implementing dietary and lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of the development of preventable illnesses & promotes early detection of other illnesses.
You may be surprised to learn that in 2015 it was reported that in Australia 38% of the total burden of disease was due to conditions that could have been prevented by changing lifestyle factors. 38%. That’s huge!
Here is a list of some preventable diseases common in the ageing population:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Some cancers
- Osteoporosis
- Sexually transmitted infections
In consultations we work with you to provide education on what lifestyle changes you can make to reduce the risk of the development of these conditions where appropriate.
What if I’ve been diagnosed with a health condition?
That’s okay too! Dani has studied a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine) so she understands the pathophysiology of what’s going on in your body. Nutritional medicine can be extremely helpful in supporting the management of many illnesses. Dani will ensure that any prescription that she provides you with is safe in combination with any medications that you may be taking already.
Dani’s aim is to support you to feel your best.
Ageing is a beautiful process and should not be something to be blamed for holding you back from your life.
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