Halifax Clinic of Natural Medicine

NUTRITION, FOOD ALLERGY TESTING, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY, VOICE THERAPY

Ruth Lightbody (née Davis) BA(Hons), BSc Clinical Language Sciences, RCSLT, HPC, N.H.F. Dip. (Practitioner Diploma in Nutritional Healing), BANT.

NUTRITION
Ruth is a qualified practitioner in Nutritional Healing, and trained with the Nutritional Healing Foundation. She is a practising member of BANT (British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy).

What is Nutritional Healing?
Nutritional healing is a holistic therapy which takes the whole person into consideration when diagnosing and suggesting treatment.

It initially involves taking a detailed case history in order to determine what your health problems are. I need to know about you as the whole person, not just your symptoms so in addition to finding out about your symptoms I also ask questions about your emotional state, energy levels, levels of motivation and creativity, lifestyle and even your dreams! I need to know what you would typically eat and drink in a day, a week, a weekend, a holiday.

A thorough diagnosis involves talking you through how you have arrived at your current state of health: how we are made up of trillions of cells and hence the health of the individual cell has an enormous bearing on the health of the whole body. I therefore talk about the cell: how to keep it healthy, how to keep it hydrated, how to keep it energised, how to keep it functioning at its optimum levels and how to ensure it is able to continually rid itself of its toxic waste by-products. I discuss how important it is that the toxins leave the body as soon as possible via the route of elimination. And that if the route of elimination becomes blocked e.g. by an overloaded liver, then toxins get backed up in your body and cause you symptoms. It is essential that the liver is treated with respect and we discuss how to do this. By helping you understand these concepts you will understand how and why your body is complaining by producing symptoms.

The process of healing begins when you start talking and opening up - it helps to release your anxieties. Nutritional Healing is to do with understanding what the cell, our basic component, does and therefore what it needs in order to stay healthy. What it needs in order to function efficiently. How it must be able to take in nutrients and expel waste. How in order to do so it must be in a constant hydrated state It's about understanding how your lifestyle can affect your cell's health and why. It's about the interaction between acid and alkaline and how the cell's interior needs to be more alkaline than acid and what conditions will make it become more acid. It's about understanding that when the cell's interior does become more acid then it is not able to function efficiently and toxic waste will accumulate within it. It's about understanding how the phases of the moon affect us. It's about understanding how 5 element acupuncture fits into the picture. It's about understanding how our mental states can be treated as well as our physical symptoms. It's about understanding how the Bach flower essences can help complement the nutrition and help us to feel better emotionally. It's about understanding how unique we all are, how your body and your needs are different to another's, and how therefore nutritional healing needs to be tailored to suit your particular needs.

What conditions can be helped with Nutritional Healing?
Many conditions respond well to Nutritional Healing - IBS and other digestive complaints; M.E.; Candida; problems with losing weight; migraines/headaches; different skin complaints such as ecszema and psoriasis; fatigue; memory; hyperactivity. Of course one of the most important aspects is preventive health: we service our car every 12,000 miles - our cells/bodies could do with a service too! And if you're thinking of having a baby, preparing your body beforehand, enabling it to rid itself of its toxins before conception will improve the baby's health.

What's the first step?
On making your first appointment, you will be sent a detailed case history questionnaire which you should complete and bring with you. The first appointment will last one and a half hours. Subsequent appointments will typically last one hour but may also last one and a half hours.

FOOD ALLERGY TESTING

Ruth uses Applied Kinesiology, a simple form of muscle testing, to determine if you are allergic or intolerant to certain foods, drinks, E Numbers, animal hairs, odours or gases. It is non-invasive and is safe for babies, children or adults. The session can last up to an hour, depending on how many items are being tested. Nutritional advice will also be offered during the session.



SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
Ruth qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1989 from Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Metropolitan University). She is a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. She is a member of the HPC.

Which speech and language therapy difficulties does she treat?
Ruth treats children with stammers, children who are difficult to understand because they can't say their l's, s's, r's, f's etc. and children with reading and writing difficulties.

VOICE THERAPY
Ruth also treats adults who experience problems with their voices: e.g. they find their voices give out on them; their voices have changed quality and now sound hoarse, husky, or gravelly. Typically these patients find others commenting about their voice and continually have to counter questions about whether they have a cold. They may have difficulties singing because they can no longer reach their previous pitches. Other types of voice patient might be singers or public speakers who have had no training in voice care. Typically, people who have to use their voices a lot for their work often do suffer from voicing difficulties e.g. teachers, public speakers, singers, call centre staff, managers, seminar presenters. Another type of voice patient might feel embarrassed because their pitch suggests to others that they are either younger than they are, or a different gender to what they are.

Ruth is available to give workshops to teachers and public speakers on how to look after their voices, maintain good voice quality, how to safely project their voices and how to keep the audience's attention. These group sessions typically last 2 hours. For these group sessions Ruth can come to you or small groups can attend the clinic.

Come and discover how your voice works and how to regain control of your voice!

Ruth can be contacted on 01422 340919