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Integral Wellness Nutrition & Health Clinic

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Integral Wellness Nutrition & Health Clinic

Helping you regain your energy, control your cravings and reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes

20/08/2026

Some questions are worth sitting with.

This one comes up in clinic more than you might expect - not as a nutrition question, but as something underneath it.

So often the thing getting in the way of looking after ourselves isn't time, or knowledge, or willpower…

It's a quiet belief that we're not quite worth the effort.

If that lands for you, be gentle with yourself today - and maybe start with one small thing that tells you a different story.

And if you'd like support, we're here.

Comment CALL and we'll send you the link to book a free call with us where we can explore these questions with you.

12/08/2026

"How do I get enough fibre when I'm eating low carb?"

This was a real question Holly was asked in clinic this week, by a 65 year old client who'd done something brilliant 👉🏼 she'd got her type 2 diabetes into remission.

But there was a catch…

In cutting back on carbs, her fibre intake had dropped too, and she'd started struggling with constipation.

It's a really common issue, and one that doesn't get talked about enough.

So much fibre comes from the exact foods people reduce first when they go lower carb: grains, starchy vegetables, certain fruits.

The answer isn't to add the carbs back in, it's to be smarter about where your fibre comes from.

Low-carb, high-fibre foods absolutely exist. Think leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, chia and ground flaxseed, nuts and a little psyllium husk.

But here's the nuance: everyone's response to carbohydrates is individual. Some people tolerate beans, pulses and even some root vegetables well, when enjoyed as part of a balanced meal. This is exactly where tools like a CGM can help - giving you real-time insight into how your body responds, rather than following a one-size-fits-all rule.

Paired with enough water and daily movement, the right approach keeps everything moving without undoing the blood sugar progress she'd worked so hard for.

Because managing type 2 diabetes shouldn't mean trading one problem for another.

To help you get started, Holly has a low-carb, high-fibre bread loaf recipe that's a brilliant way to add fibre back in, without the blood sugar impact.

Comment RECIPE and we'll send it across 👇🏼

09/08/2026

20 years with type 2 diabetes…

Jason had medication, but very little else.

When he was diagnosed two decades ago, the conversation stopped at the prescription.

• No discussion of food.
• No mention of lifestyle.
• And no suggestion that putting it into remission was even on the table.

But it turns out it was.

Swipe through to see exactly what we changed, and where Jason is now.

"Having been a type 2 diabetic for nearly 20 years, I've learnt more in 4 months from Natalie than from the NHS in the last 20 years." Jason

If you've been managing a diagnosis without ever being shown what's driving it, comment SUPPORT and we'll be in touch 👇🏼

05/08/2026

Can people with type 2 diabetes eat fruit?

It's one of the most common questions we hear, and the answer is yes… But like most things in nutrition, the detail matters.

Fruit contains natural sugar, but it also comes packaged with fibre, water, vitamins and polyphenols. That's what makes whole fruit behave so differently from juice, smoothies or dried fruit, where the sugar is concentrated or the fibre is broken down.

So it's less about avoiding fruit, and more about being thoughtful with the type, the portion, and what you pair it with.

A handful of berries with Greek yoghurt is a very different blood sugar event to a large glass of juice.

And context always matters - your medication, activity level, glucose control and carbohydrate tolerance all play a part.

This is exactly why there's no single rule that works for everyone.

📊 Quick question for you: what is one fruit you love, but worry about eating as a diabetic?

Let us know in the comments 👇🏼

30/07/2026

You cleaned up your diet.

You cut the takeaways, added more whole foods, and reduced your reliance on beige carbs.

And yet your cholesterol went up 🤯

It's one of the most confusing things that can happen when you're genuinely trying to look after your health.

Here's what's often not explained…

👉🏼 When you shift to a lower-carbohydrate or whole-food diet, your body begins mobilising stored fat for energy.

👉🏼 That fat travels through the bloodstream via lipoproteins, including LDL (you know, the bad one).

👉🏼 During this transition, the increased traffic can temporarily raise your LDL-C reading.

For many people, it stabilises once the body and liver adapt.

A single blood test taken in this window can look alarming, but it may not reflect your settled metabolic state at all.

For a subset of people, the rise is more persistent. These individuals are known as lean mass hyper-responders (LMHR), and in this context, the elevated LDL may reflect efficient fat transport, not a cardiovascular problem.

(But this has to be confirmed by markers - not just assumed.)

So how do we tell the difference between an alarming set of cholesterol results and ones that aren’t flagging high heart risk?

If triglycerides are also elevated, ApoB is high and insulin and inflammatory markers are raised, the picture looks meaningfully different than just raised LDL alone - and it needs more considered investigation.

In one of our latest blogs, I cover exactly how to tell the difference, what to ask for, and what to do next.

Comment BLOG to learn more.

27/07/2026

If I were Prime Minister, here’s where I’d start 👇🏼

Cooking taught in schools from reception, with sessions open to parents too. Because learning to cook is one of the most powerful health interventions there is - and it shouldn’t stop at the school gates.

A nutritional therapist embedded in every GP practice. Not as an add-on, but as part of the core team. Because so many of the conditions filling NHS waiting lists have a nutrition and lifestyle driver that isn’t being addressed.

Free community health education accessible through every GP surgery 👉🏼 because prevention has to become the default, not something people seek out themselves.

Plus a full ban on junk food advertising at any time of day. On TV, billboards and bus stops. The current restrictions don’t go far enough.

What would make your list? Pop it in the comments 👇🏼

Check out Natalie and Holly’s ideas too.

24/07/2026

If I was Prime Minister, here's where I'd start 👇🏼

Routine fasting insulin testing on the NHS. It's one of the earliest markers of metabolic dysfunction, and it's almost never tested until something has already gone wrong. Catching it early changes outcomes significantly.

Multidisciplinary teams as standard in every GP surgery. Doctors, nutritional therapists and health coaches working together from the outset - not in separate systems that rarely communicate.

Annual vitamin D and omega-3 finger prick tests posted directly to your door. These are simple, affordable, and would catch deficiencies that affect energy, immunity, mental health and cardiovascular risk. There's no good reason they aren't routine.

More allotments and community growing spaces. Supporting people to grow their own food - because reconnecting with where food comes from changes how people relate to it.

What would make your list? Pop it in the comments 👇🏼

And look out for the rest of the team's ideas.

22/07/2026

If I were Prime Minister, here's where I'd start 👇🏼

A heavy tax on ultra-processed foods - with genuine support for British farmers so healthy food becomes more accessible…not less.

Mandatory labelling that people can actually read and understand - not designed to confuse.

All school meals planned and approved by a qualified nutritionist 👉🏼 because what children eat every day matters enormously to their long-term health. And a ban on UPFs and vending machines in schools and hospitals.

A blanket ban on junk food in hospitals. If we're serious about health, hospitals should be leading by example - with spaces for nature, natural light and movement built in as standard.

CGMs made available preventatively for anyone with an HbA1c over 40, so that people understand what's happening to their blood sugar before it becomes a diagnosis.

None of these are radical. They're just overdue.

What would make your list? Pop it in the comments 👇🏼

And look out for the rest of the team's ideas coming soon.

18/07/2026

Eating fish or fish oil supplements… which one actually gives you enough omega-3 EPA? 🐟

This one might surprise you - and break your heart if, like me, you like a food-first approach.

A 2025 clinical trial, compared fish oil supplements against eating oily and white fish at UK recommended levels (twice a week) for 12 weeks.

In 42 healthy adults they measured extracellular vesicles and thrombin generation - both linked to stroke risk and cardiovascular disease.

The result:

👉🏼 1g per day of EPA from fish oil supplements reduced both markers significantly.

👉🏼 Eating fish at recommended levels had no effect.

👉🏼 The reason: the recommended amount of fish simply didn’t provide enough EPA.

This isn’t a proof point against eating oily fish at all.

Salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout, anchovies, herring - eat them, enjoy them, they have enormous nutritional value beyond just omega-3s.

But this study asks an important question about how far diet alone can take you when it comes to omega-3 specifically.

For most people, diet is unlikely to deliver the EPA levels associated with meaningful cardiovascular protection.

Especially as the recent NDNS data revealed 86% adults and 93% of children don’t eat fish.

And this matters because omega-3 EPA and DHA directly counterbalance omega-6 which our diets are rich in and yet an imbalance can drive insulin resistance, inflammation and cardio-metabolic disease.

The current UK guidelines make no provision for supplements or fortified foods as an alternative route to meeting omega-3 needs.

That needs to change!

But until then, focus on what you might need to consider to reach your omega-3 EPA and DHA needs.

Save this and share it with someone wondering whether their omega-3 intake is actually enough.

16/07/2026

Did you know?

Statins are the most prescribed drug in the UK.

Here's what most people on them aren't told 👇🏼

This is not anti-statin content - statins save lives in the right context.

But the ‘right context’ conversation doesn't always happen in a 10 minute GP appointment…

This week's blog covers what statins do well, what they don't address, the side effects worth knowing about (and what the evidence says about lowering cholesterol without them).

Comment BLOG and we’ll send you the link to read the full blog.

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Hitchin

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 3pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm

Website

https://integralwellness.co.uk/

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