Why I Practice Holistic Nutrition: A Personal Journey Through Hormone Imbalance, Herbalism, and Healing
People often ask me why I practice nutrition so differently—why I integrate food, herbs, lifestyle, stress, and science instead of following a rigid or purely conventional framework.
The honest answer is this:
This path healed me when nothing else did.
I didn’t arrive here through theory alone, a single certification, or a trend. I arrived here through lived experience—through years of symptoms that didn’t make sense, appointments that left me dismissed, and a long, winding journey of learning what happens when women’s health concerns are minimized… and what becomes possible when the body is finally supported as a whole.
This work is personal. It’s embodied. And it’s the reason I practice nutrition the way I do today.
The First Spark: Seeing Health Through a Different Lens
When I was 16, I traveled to Europe and stayed with a host family in France. I became close with their daughter, and when I returned two years later, I was struck by something unexpected: her mother looked dramatically younger than I remembered.
Not just “well rested” younger—but vibrant, energized, and alive in a way that felt different.
When I asked what had changed, the answer was simple.
She had transitioned to a plant-based diet.
That moment stayed with me. It was my first real exposure to the idea that food could influence not just weight or labs—but vitality, aging, and how someone felt in their body.
Inspired, I slowly transitioned to a plant-based diet over three months and remained vegan from ages 18 to 22. At first, I felt incredible—clear-headed, energized, deeply connected to my body. That experience was so powerful that I switched my college major from biochemical engineering to nutrition after just one semester.
Food felt like the answer. I believed I had found the key.
Birth Control, Hormones, and Being Dismissed
I was first put on birth control at age 14 for acne, migraines, and irregular, heavy, painful periods—without deeper investigation or discussion of root causes.
At 21, in 2017, I decided to stop taking it.
Almost immediately, my symptoms returned—and they were worse than before.
Bleeding for 10 days
A 10-day break
Then bleeding again
Severe pain
Emotional instability
Exhaustion
I began to believe something was seriously wrong with me. I was even diagnosed with a mental health condition, convinced that the emotional symptoms I was experiencing must mean I had a mood disorder.
But in reality, my symptoms were hormonal—not psychiatric.
At the time, no one connected the dots.
Then a new symptom appeared: joint pain, layered on top of everything I’d experienced since adolescence. The pain became so significant that I could no longer hold plates at my waitress job. Eventually, I had to quit.
When I went to doctors for help, the response was always the same:
“Just go back on birth control.”
One nurse, quietly and off the record, suggested I look into the herb Vitex.
That single comment cracked the door open.
Acupuncture, Hashimoto’s, and a New Way of Seeing the Body
As my joint pain worsened, I began seeking care outside the conventional system. I found a doctor of Oriental Medicine who was also an MD and accepted my insurance.
She treated my pain with acupuncture—and insisted on lab work.
That’s when I learned I had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
I was referred to an endocrinologist and dismissed once again. I was told to:
“Research the condition myself”
Come back in six months
Start medication only if my labs worsened
There was no discussion of prevention. No guidance on nutrition or stress. No support.
What I did learn—on my own—was that stress played a significant role.
That realization led me to meditation, yoga, and eventually a retreat on the beach in the Bahamas. There, I began to understand the nervous system’s role in inflammation, autoimmunity, and hormonal health.
For the first time, I could feel that nutrition alone wasn’t enough. Healing required a bigger lens.
The Health Food Store: Where Curiosity Became Direction
Around this time, I kept noticing a job listing for a health food store. I saw the posting four separate times.
Something about it kept pulling my attention.
I wasn’t actively looking for a job in that space—but I was in pain, out of work, and open to learning anything that might help. I applied once and was hired.
That environment became my first immersive exposure to herbs, supplements, tinctures, and functional nutrition. My manager spoke openly about plant medicine and holistic health, and for the first time, I saw a bridge between ancient practices and modern science.
I was hooked.
The Moment Everything Changed: Acupuncture & My Cycle
One of my coworkers was a student at the Dragon Rises School of Acupuncture. One day, he asked to feel my pulse and look at my tongue—something my previous acupuncturist had never done.
After a pause, he looked at me and asked:
“Is something wrong with your period?”
I was stunned.
He confidently told me he could help.
After three weekly sessions at the student clinic, something remarkable happened:
My period returned
It was painless
It lasted 7 days
It was normal
That was March 2018.
It has been regular ever since.
That experience changed my life—and permanently shifted my understanding of what was possible when the body is supported correctly.
Ayurveda, India, and Going Deeper
My curiosity expanded beyond herbs into Ayurveda, the foundational system behind yoga—an approach to nutrition and health rooted in digestion, constitution, and energetics.
I took a semester off college and traveled to India for 7 months, volunteering in kitchens at Ayurvedic ashrams with on-site clinics and immersing myself in traditional healing systems.
Before I left, my coworker gently told me I likely needed to eat animal products again due to energy deficiency.
At the time, I wasn’t ready to hear that.
Herbalism in the Mountains, Grounded in Science
While in India, I discovered a wildcrafting herbalism apprenticeship taught by an adjunct professor from Bastyr University—my dream school since first learning about holistic health.
I applied and was accepted.
So I dropped out of college, stayed in India longer, completed yoga teacher training, and once I returned to the States, drove across the country from Florida to Seattle.
For four months, I lived and studied herbalism immersed in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
This wasn’t surface-level or folk medicine alone. I studied evidence-based herbalism, including:
Herbal constitutions
Water- vs alcohol-soluble constituents
Menstrum selection for potency
Flavonoids, terpenes, and salicylic acid
Berberine in Oregon grape
Ethical harvesting
Research literacy aligned with clinical practice
I knew this approach could be responsibly integrated into evidence-based nutrition.
Returning to Balance—and Healing
Healing required balance, not extremes.
In India, I accepted dairy culturally and tolerated it well. In Seattle, I began eating fresh, local fish while working at a Japanese restaurant. During the pandemic, I sourced organic, grass-fed meats from open-air farmers markets.
All while maintaining a plant-forward foundation.
With continued acupuncture, yoga, movement, herbs, stress reduction, sleep, and nourishment—my labs normalized.
My Hashimoto’s became dormant.
That experience taught me something I now teach every client:
Healing is not dogma. Healing is personalization.
Continued Training in Herbalism & Integrative Healing
My education did not stop with one apprenticeship—or with becoming a dietitian.
Over the years, I have continued to invest deeply in my training as an herbalist and integrative practitioner, studying with some of the most respected educators and institutions in the field. My continued education includes coursework, mentorship, and advanced study through Rosemary Gladstar’s herbal programs, The Herbal Academy, The School of Evolutionary Herbalism, and The Traditions School of Herbal Studies.
These trainings expanded my understanding of herbal medicine far beyond simple protocols. I studied herbal energetics, constitutional assessment, plant chemistry, formulation, safety, and the art of matching the right herb to the right person—always in the context of nutrition, lifestyle, and the nervous system.
What matters most to me is practicing herbalism responsibly and ethically. That means:
Grounding recommendations in evidence and tradition
Understanding contraindications and interactions
Avoiding symptom-only or “one-size-fits-all” protocols
Using herbs as supportive allies, not replacements for nourishment or lifestyle care
This continued education allows me to integrate herbal medicine seamlessly and safely into evidence-based nutrition care—without separating the science from the wisdom that has informed these practices for generations.
Becoming a Dietitian—My Way
After returning to college September 2019 and completing my dietetics degree during the pandemic, I chose not to pursue a conventional, simulation-based internship.
Instead, I:
Worked with a functional medicine dietitian
Studied coaching
Built an herbal apothecary
Created and sold herbal products
Studied under a naturopathic doctor
Continued advanced education long before becoming an RD
I officially became a dietitian later—but I had been practicing integrative nutrition since 2018.
By the end of 2025, I will be nearly eight years into this work.
Why Hormone Health—and Why PCOS Chose Me
For 2 years I worked in Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), developing a deep understanding of pregnancy, postpartum, and infant nutrition.
When I entered private practice, PCOS patients began finding me—again and again.
I didn’t choose PCOS.
PCOS chose me.
Through my clients, I’ve witnessed real-time improvements in symptoms, cycles, fertility, and biomarkers. This work impacts not only women—but their families and future generations.
I am deeply fulfilled by this path.
Why I Practice Nutrition This Way
I don’t practice band-aid herbalism. I don’t use herbs like drugs. And I don’t separate food from lifestyle, stress, or sleep.
True healing is integrative.
Nutrition is the foundation
Herbs are supportive allies
Lifestyle is non-negotiable
This approach healed me—and I’ve invested tens of thousands of dollars learning how to practice it ethically, accessibly, and evidence-based.
I also accept insurance because care should not be a luxury.
My dream is to help individuals—and to teach other dietitians this approach—so nutrition becomes first-line care, not a last resort.
A Final Word
Food can be a source of healing—or disconnection.
I’m here to help you reconnect with your body, your cycles, and your health—without confusion, restriction, or dismissal.
If my story resonates with you, I would love to support you.
Book a free discovery call or schedule a consultation today.
You don’t have to figure this out alone.
