Andrea's Story

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Cancer touches us all. Whether we have it ourselves during our lifetime or someone we love has it, we are all affected by it. I am no different. The first time my mom had cancer, she was in her early 40s, about the same age that I am now. This was quite traumatic to my teenage world, but my mom would not be deterred from living her long, full life. She had travel to do (and still does!) Thanks to modern medicine and her steadfast will to overcome, she is still here with us today and I am eternally grateful.  This inspires me to help my clients, family and friends both avoid cancer as well as increase the chances that they can survive it should it arise.

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Food has always played a central role in my life as a creative outlet, a health-transforming tool, and a source of joy. Unfortunately, it has also contributed to some health issues that I have experienced along the way.

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While living in Italy after college, eating and drinking every culinary delight in sight, I began to itch. My scalp, inflamed and flaky, began to shed, and I realized that I had a problem. I dealt with it, scratching when I could, and lived with the discomfort for years. Fast-forward to living in New York, where I had a solid job and health insurance, I went to a dermatologist to figure out what it was. Psoriasis. I went home with a hefty prescription for topical corticosteroids. The drugs worked their magic, and I didn't know enough to look for the WHY of the problem. I also had no idea that this condition could be managed without the band-aid of pharmaceutical drugs. And, as time went on, the drugs were not always enough.

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It was only after experiencing later hormonal issues, weight gain, sleep disturbances, thyroid insufficiency, out of control stress, the darkness of depression, that I looked for the root cause of my health problems and better solutions. It turns out that what you consume (both as food, in your relationships and in your environment) has a profound impact on how you feel and if symptoms manifest.

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By shifting my diet, supplementing where needed, getting rid of hormonal birth control, decreasing my stress load, and ultimately taking control of my life, I was able to turn the situation around. In the process, I became a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, so that I could help others figure out the root cause to WHY they are experiencing symptoms.

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My Nutrition and Wellness Education:

To indulge my curiosity to learn more about food and health, I became a Certified Holistic Health Coach in 2010 through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and began working with clients to help them adjust their diets and lifestyles to encourage wellness.

 

In 2018, I became a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner through the Nutritional Therapy Association, which dove even deeper, teaching me hands-on ways to test my clients for dysfunction and nutritional deficiencies, as well as the nutritional solutions that help them feel and function better.

 

Once I started learning about food and health, I realized that there was always more to learn and I gobbled it up. In 2020, I became Restorative Wellness Practitioner (currently RWP Level 3) and I now offer functional lab testing including food sensitivity testing, GI Map stool testing, hormone testing and blood chemistry.

 

My passion is nutritional approaches to cancer. I completed my 250-hour certification to become an Oncology Nutrition Consultant (ONC) with the Oncology Nutrition Institute in 2022. I also completed a 6-month cancer nutrition program with Cancer Peace University in 2020. I have also studied advanced courses in ART (Autonomic Response Testing) and Applied Psycho-Neurobiology with Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt. I am continually updating my education through new courses, research and study.