Catherine Jeans is a nutritional therapist based in Norfolk. With a book aimed at helping children to eat more fruit and veg, Racing the Rainbow out this month, she shares her story
I am a functional nutritional therapist, registered nutritionist, yoga teacher, coach, author and lecturer. I have been practising as The Family Nutrition Expert for over 14 years now, supporting families and individuals in my nutrition clinic, with dietary, nutrition and lifestyle advice to support their individual health needs. I have a team of nutritional therapists who work with me, and we specialise in digestive health, children’s health, neurodiversity, hormone balance, skin health, sports nutrition and nutritional deficiencies.
I also lecture for The Institute for Optimum Nutrition, train early years professionals and school staff in nutrition, and support businesses and their teams around the UK with wellness and nutrition guidance.
Most recently I have started teaching yoga and nutrition classes in Sprowston, at White House Farm – Knowles Dance Studio. I have a new nutrition and yoga for digestive health series starting on 7th November at Knowles Dance Studio. This is quite unique in this area because I’ll be combining yoga and nutrition in a 90-minute weekly class, providing practical tools that people can use day to day to support their digestive health – including breathwork, gut supporting asana practices, nutritional guidance and lifestyle advice that support optimal gut health.
What led you to becoming a Nutritional Therapist and what were you doing before?
I was brought up eating food that Mum grew from her amazing garden, so I always had this connection between food and health. But like many teenagers and young adults, when I left home and went to university I completely forgot about healthy eating, and this took quite a toll on my health. I then began my career working at Anglia TV as a TV researcher, then later producer and executive producer, and was working very long hours, with high stress, and not eating well (and drinking too much!). I developed inflammatory bowel disease, which left me on permanent medication and rounds of medical investigations.
To cut a long story short, it was after a serious car crash that I decided to do something different in my life. There’s nothing like two months in hospital with a broken back that makes you reflect on your life! I decided to train at The Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London and, after qualifying, set up The Family Nutrition Expert, which has just gone from strength to strength.
What do you specialise in?
My areas of special interest are children’s health (particularly neurodiversity), gut and digestive health, stress management, metabolism and hormone balance. I also have a team of nutritional therapists with their own special interests at The Family Nutrition Expert clinic, including sports nutrition, plant-based diets, metabolic health, autoimmunity and skin health.
In the area of neurodiversity, one of my most fulfilling projects is with a local special educational needs school, where I run 1:1 nutrition and cooking sessions with children who struggle with eating a variety of foods. It’s really rewarding work.
How have you got involved with The Colourful Kitchen Collection book?
The Institute for Optimum Nutrition (where I trained in nutritional therapy) celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and to celebrate they wanted to put together a cookbook of recipes from their alumni. So, I’m really delighted to have two recipes in this book: my party pleasing Vegan Millionaire’s Shortbread (people have no idea that it doesn’t contain any refined sugar), and my Slow Cooker Sausage and Bean Hot Pot. I also produced a video for Instagram of how to make the Millionaire’s shortbread.
It’s a fantastic book for anyone interested in how to use food to support their health and wellbeing, with a variety of recipes from super quick to a bit more indulgent and time consuming. The idea behind the book is that we could all benefit from eating more colourful food, whether we are plant based or carnivore…getting in those vibrant rainbow of plant foods is so good for us all.
And you’re also publishing your own book, Racing the Rainbow, aimed at children?
I’m so excited that Racing the Rainbow is now published – and it’s available here on Amazon. This book has been a long time coming, as we started creating it before Covid. And then life got busy, and we’ve only just got round to updating and publishing it.
It’s created with my brilliant illustrator friend Rachel Holmes – her illustrations, words and characters really bring this book and my nutrition message to life. The idea is that you use the recipes and characters to win rainbow points every day, working together as a family to eat more fruit and veg. There are some of my favourite recipes inside, which you can cook with your children – these include Hide and Seek Brownies, Watermelon Pizza and Pipped to the Post Pasta. Each recipe has points that you can add to your rainbow chart.
Do you think people are slowly but surely coming round to the idea that good nutrition can REALLY benefit our health?
Yes, I do think that more and more people are starting to understand this, however there are many factors that can impact our food choices. Life is busy, many people are experiencing stress and therefore healthy food can be at the bottom of their priority lists. Also I think that manufacturers and the regulators (i.e. the government) have a lot of work to do to change our food system, because it is fundamentally flawed. If we want to improve the health of our nation, we need to prohibit the production of foods that contain harmful ingredients, and make healthy foods affordable and accessible.
Nutrition advice can feel complex and overwhelming for people – there’s so much noise about it online now. It’s no wonder people feel confused. My aim is to simplify this, and I really encourage people to work on 1 or 2 things at a time. That might be increasing water intake initially, adding an extra vegetable to your evening meal (even if it’s a microwaved vegetable on a ready meal), or a piece of fruit with breakfast. Then once this becomes a habit, you can work on the next thing.
Racing the Rainbow, written by Catherine Jeans and illustrated by Rachel Holmes, is available on Amazon. The Colourful Kitchen Collection can be purchased directly from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition. Visit thefamilynutritionexpert.com, Instagram and Facebook.
Featured image of Catherine Jeans – supplied
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