Working with a Clinical Nutritionist
Working with a Clinical Nutritionist offers personalized guidance and numerous benefits, including improved overall health, weight management, disease management, balanced nutrition, support for behavioral changes, and allergy or food sensitivity management. Clinical Nutritionists empower individuals with education, accountability, and strategies for long-term results, promoting better health and well-being through sustainable dietary choices.
What to Expect
A visit with Jenna McCallum, MS, Clinical Nutritionist, involves a comprehensive assessment of your dietary habits, nutritional needs, lifestyle, behaviors, and health goals in order to develop an effective, structured strategy addressing your nutritional concerns.
Initial Evaluation: You will be asked about your medical history, including any existing health conditions, allergies, medications, previous dietary interventions, current eating habits, lifestyle, physical activity level, and specific dietary concerns or goals.
Nutritional Assessment: This will involve reviewing your dietary intake, analyzing any relevant blood work or lab results, and measuring aspects such as body weight, body composition, and waist circumference. This assessment helps identify nutritional deficiencies, excesses, or areas for improvement.
Goal Setting: Based on your health objectives, Jenna will work with you to set realistic and achievable dietary goals. These goals could relate to weight management, disease management, physical performance, or overall well-being.
Personalized Nutrition Plan: You will receive a personalized nutrition plan tailored to your needs and goals. This plan will include specific dietary recommendations, meal planning guidance, behavioral adjustments, and other relevant recommendations. It may also take into account any dietary restrictions, food preferences, cultural or religious considerations.
Nutrition Education: You will receive information and education about nutrition principles, including the importance of various nutrients, the impact of different food choices on health, and strategies for making healthier food choices.
Dietary Modification: Jenna will help you make dietary modifications, which may involve increasing or decreasing certain nutrients, managing portion sizes, and selecting foods that align with your goals and preferences.
Behavioral Change Strategies: You will discuss strategies to implement and maintain dietary changes successfully. This can include addressing emotional eating, managing cravings, developing meal planning skills, and finding practical ways to incorporate healthier choices into your daily life. Jenna is particularly passionate about, and holds specialized certification in, Nutritional Psychology and the relationship between nutrition and mental/behavioral health.
Nutritional Counseling: You will be counseled and supported in addressing any barriers or challenges you face in adopting healthier eating habits. This can include navigating social situations, dining out, and food shopping.
Monitoring and Follow-Up: Depending on your goals and needs, follow-up appointments will be scheduled to track your progress, adjust your nutrition plan as necessary, and provide ongoing guidance and support.
Motivation and Accountability: Maintain your dedication to your nutritional objectives with ongoing support and motivation as you progress toward improved well-being.
Specialized Advice: If you have specific dietary concerns, such as managing food allergies, chronic conditions, cultural or religious considerations, or other specialty needs, Jenna will offer specialized advice and guidance.
Initial Evaluation: You will be asked about your medical history, including any existing health conditions, allergies, medications, previous dietary interventions, current eating habits, lifestyle, physical activity level, and specific dietary concerns or goals.
Nutritional Assessment: This will involve reviewing your dietary intake, analyzing any relevant blood work or lab results, and measuring aspects such as body weight, body composition, and waist circumference. This assessment helps identify nutritional deficiencies, excesses, or areas for improvement.
Goal Setting: Based on your health objectives, Jenna will work with you to set realistic and achievable dietary goals. These goals could relate to weight management, disease management, physical performance, or overall well-being.
Personalized Nutrition Plan: You will receive a personalized nutrition plan tailored to your needs and goals. This plan will include specific dietary recommendations, meal planning guidance, behavioral adjustments, and other relevant recommendations. It may also take into account any dietary restrictions, food preferences, cultural or religious considerations.
Nutrition Education: You will receive information and education about nutrition principles, including the importance of various nutrients, the impact of different food choices on health, and strategies for making healthier food choices.
Dietary Modification: Jenna will help you make dietary modifications, which may involve increasing or decreasing certain nutrients, managing portion sizes, and selecting foods that align with your goals and preferences.
Behavioral Change Strategies: You will discuss strategies to implement and maintain dietary changes successfully. This can include addressing emotional eating, managing cravings, developing meal planning skills, and finding practical ways to incorporate healthier choices into your daily life. Jenna is particularly passionate about, and holds specialized certification in, Nutritional Psychology and the relationship between nutrition and mental/behavioral health.
Nutritional Counseling: You will be counseled and supported in addressing any barriers or challenges you face in adopting healthier eating habits. This can include navigating social situations, dining out, and food shopping.
Monitoring and Follow-Up: Depending on your goals and needs, follow-up appointments will be scheduled to track your progress, adjust your nutrition plan as necessary, and provide ongoing guidance and support.
Motivation and Accountability: Maintain your dedication to your nutritional objectives with ongoing support and motivation as you progress toward improved well-being.
Specialized Advice: If you have specific dietary concerns, such as managing food allergies, chronic conditions, cultural or religious considerations, or other specialty needs, Jenna will offer specialized advice and guidance.
What is Clinical Nutrition?
Clinical Nutrition is an evidence-based, specialized branch of nutrition that focuses on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals with medical conditions or specific dietary needs. It involves the application of nutritional science and principles to improve patients' health outcomes, manage their medical conditions, and enhance their overall quality of life through nutrition therapy.
Key aspects of Clinical Nutrition include:
Key aspects of Clinical Nutrition include:
- Nutritional Assessment: Assessing an individual's dietary intake, medical history, and health status to identify nutritional deficiencies, excesses, or specific dietary requirements. This assessment may involve analyzing blood tests, body composition, and dietary habits.
- Diagnosis and Treatment: Identifying nutritional problems and developing personalized treatment plans. These plans may include dietary modifications, nutritional supplements, or specialized diets tailored to the patient's condition.
- Nutritional Counseling: Educating and counseling patients about nutrition-related matters, including dietary guidelines, meal planning, portion control, and food choices - helping patients to understand the impact of diet on their health and providing practical strategies to achieve their nutritional goals.
- Managing Medical Conditions: Optimizing diet and nutrition to assist patients in managing a wide range of medical conditions, including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, kidney disease, cancer, food allergies, and eating disorders.
- Weight Management: Assist individuals in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight through personalized weight management plans that may include calorie control, balanced nutrition, and behavior modification.
- Sports Nutrition: Working with athletes to optimize their dietary intake for performance, recovery, and overall health.
- Pediatric Nutrition: Addressing the unique nutritional needs of infants, children, and adolescents, including growth, development, and childhood obesity.
- Geriatric Nutrition: Addressing the unique nutritional needs and challenges faced by older adults, including age-related health conditions and dietary changes.
What is Nutritional Psychology?
Nutritional Psychology is an emerging field that examines the relationship between diet, nutrition, and mental health. It explores how the foods we consume can affect not only our physical health, but also our mental well-being and emotional state. Nutritional Psychology recognizes the bidirectional relationship between nutrition and mental health - not only can what we eat influence our mental health, but our mental health can also influence our dietary choices. Research in this field continues to evolve, shedding light on the profound connections between what we eat and how we feel, think, and experience mental health.
Nutritional Psychology considerations include:
Nutritional Psychology considerations include:
- Diet-Mood Connection: Different nutrients and dietary patterns can impact mood, emotions, and mental clarity. Certain foods are believed to have mood-enhancing or mood-destabilizing effects.
- Gut-Brain Axis: Communication between the gut and the brain is complex, and the gut microbiome plays a crucial role in mental health. Changes in gut bacteria composition can influence mood, behavior, and cognitive function.
- Inflammation and Mental Health: Chronic inflammation, often driven by poor dietary choices, can promote the development of mood disorders like depression and anxiety.
- Micronutrients and Brain Function: Specific vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids, B-vitamins, magnesium, etc.) can affect brain function and mental health.
- Emotional Eating: Psychological factors including stress, emotional well-being, body image, and self-esteem influence eating behavior.
HoursOffice hours:
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm Saturdays by Appointment Only After hour supplement pickups can be arranged |
TelephoneColorado Springs T: 719-551-5282
Colorado Springs T: 719-426-9637 Colorado Springs F: 719-639-2054 Parker T: 303-269-4860 |
Address122 E. Las Animas
Colorado Springs, CO 80903 9395 Crown Crest Blvd. Parker, CO 80138 |
©2015 Halsa Naturopathic Medicine. All Rights Reserved.