“I'm a Food Matters Nutrition Coach, Here's How It's Transformed My Life”
JAMES COLQUHOUN
For some people, studying nutrition online isn’t always done with a career path in mind - it’s often the next step taken in the process of healing yourself. Then by the time they reach the end of their studies, graduates are often so inspired that they want to inspire others to do the same. One such person is Genevieve, a recent graduate of the Food Matters Nutrition Certification Program. She began the pathway of natural medicine education after being diagnosed with hypothyroid at just 16, and since studying nutrition online, she is about to begin her Ph.D. in natural health.
Here’s what she had to say about her story.
What made you want to do the Food Matters Nutrition Certification Program?
“The reason I decided to sign up for this program was because I decided to invest in myself, it was a natural progression in my path. At 16, I was diagnosed with hypothyroid, which was an old ladies' disease back then - nobody else had that and a teenager certainly didn't have that, so I wasn't put on medication because I was deemed too young for this. It wasn't until I was 23 when I completely crashed, where they started the traditional hormone therapy, to which I took medication for this for a good 18 years, until I decided enough was enough and I could heal this.”
“I decided to start educating myself, watching documentaries, and following a lot of experts and I watched all the Food Matters documentaries; Hungry For Change, Food Matters, and Transcendence, and all the knowledge that I had accumulated, I put into practice, ended up healing my thyroid. This isn't medical advice, this is just me putting what I've learned into practice and I ended up weaning myself off of medication.”
“I'm lucky to have a really supportive doctor who followed me through this, but was skeptical and I ended up weaning myself off of my medication and I healed my thyroid, I'm no longer hypothyroid, my TSH levels, sure, they bounce around but they're still in a good level and my doctor's frolic and can't believe I did that with nutrition, she had a whole bunch of questions, "What did you do?" You know, "What's different?" So I found that really amazing but she has me take blood work all the time, every three months or so just to see that I'm still okay and it's been a year and a half.”
Do you recommend others do the program and why?
“I'm still thriving and I'm still learning so it was the perfect opportunity for me when this course came about… Within 30 minutes I was registered and ready to go; I pretty much asked the universe for this because it just made complete sense for me to continue onto this path, I wanted to learn more, and sure enough, I did learn a lot more.”
“The great thing too about this program is that the subject matter is divided into modules and you can go back to those modules anytime you want so when you're looking for something specific, you just need to go to that specific module and look at it again and it's yours for life, which is great, and when they make updates, then you get access to the updates as well.”
What are you planning on doing with your new knowledge and qualifications now?
“For me, this course was definitely an investment in myself and a step in my path because now I've decided, which I have, I've registered, it's official, I'm studying to become, to get my PhD in natural medicine, so that was my path and that's where I am and I'm pretty proud of that and Food Matters has been a big part of that, so thank you and I'm very grateful for that.”
Genevieve is just one of many Food Matters Nutrition Certification Program graduates who have been empowered by both their own story and their newfound knowledge to leave a lasting impact on the world. Learning of the hardships that she faced from such a young age, coupled with her challenges in the mainstream medical sphere, has only made us more passionate to inspire natural health education in the world.
James Colquhoun is the filmmaker behind Food Matters, Hungry For Change, and Transcendence Seasons 1 & 2 and founder of Food Matters and FMTV. Along with Laurentine ten Bosch, James founded the Food Matters community following the release of the 2008 documentary, giving people the tools (films, books, articles, and guided programs) to take charge of their own health. From here, FMTV was born! It was designed as a place where you can access vital information by watching all of your favorite inspiring documentaries, expert interviews, & recipe videos in one place, and in early 2020 FMTV found it's new home on Gaia.