Client Case Study: An Eating for Health Success Story
by Edward Bauman, Ph.D.
At Bauman College, nutrition consultant students are taught through case studies, both theoretical and actual. Natural chef students also learn to treat symptoms of disease through nutrition in their own theoretical case studies. Below, Dr. Ed Bauman has provided a sample of what a successful outcome of a practicing nutrition consultant might look like when confronted with a client displaying a range of symptoms and seeking a holistically balanced solution.
An Introduction to the Client
Mary, a stressed out 24-year-old woman, who is a full-time college student and a part-time caregiver meets with a Bauman College trained nutrition consultant to address the array of health issues that are compromising her energy and quality of life. She is 5’6” tall and weighs 160 pounds.
Health Concerns
Diabetes type 1, depression, indigestion, reflux, insomnia, lactose intolerance, seasonal allergies, PMS, constipation, binge eating, and cravings for sugar, ice cream, and salty snacks.
Goals
Improve blood sugar regulation, increase energy, lose weight, manage depression, and sleep better.
Medications
Insulin, antidepressants, and hydrocortisone cream
Current Diet
At school and at work, she eats mostly processed, prepared food from local convenience stores or fast food restaurants such as hamburgers, KFC, burritos, sandwiches, cheese and crackers, chocolate, coffee, and diet soda. In the evening, she eats cookies and cakes and drinks wine. At home, she eats sugary breakfast cereal and a dinner of white rice, pasta, and beef, pork and microwaved fried chicken with minimal fruits, vegetables, and water (1-2 cups per day).
Diet Analysis
Her diet is high in refined carbohydrates and processed fats and low in protein, fiber, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and natural anti-inflammatory phytonutrients.
Lifestyle
Mostly sedentary, walking for 20-30 minutes 3 times per week. She deals with high stress from demands of school, work, limited finances, and family abuse history.
Intake Synthesis
Mary has multiple health issues originating in childhood that were never addressed by the medical profession, which treated symptoms and not underlying contributors to her neuro-digestive, immune, and hormonal imbalances. Contributors to her conditions include chronic poor nutrition with too many calories and artificial food ingredients, too few nutrients, poor social support, and high stress that she never learned how to manage.
Eating for Health Recommendations
Mary and her Bauman trained nutrition consultant created a food plan that served her needs, time, and budget. This plan helped Mary to gradually improve her food awareness, eating habits, and selection by choosing some of the following suggestions and going at her own pace in making upgrades to her previous diet.
Beverages
- Increase water intake to 5 cups or more per day, spaced out in 2-hour intervals
- Digestive and brain tonic drink: 1 cup warm water with 1 tsp chia seeds and 1 tsp lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar before each meal
Foods
- Increase intake of fresh vegetables (½ cup servings) from 1 to 3 times per day
- Learn how to cook by attending a class or receiving lessons from a Bauman trained natural chef to teach her to sauté, steam vegetables, and make homemade soups, salads, and morning smoothies
- See how her body responds to eating beans: ½ cup servings, 1- 3 times per week
- Replace white rice with brown rice, quinoa, or gluten-free oats, ½ cup 3 times per week
- Eat seasonal fruits and berries: ½ cup per day
- Use nuts, seeds, and fresh fruit for her snack and evening treat, with goat or coconut yogurt
- Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, pecans, filberts, pistachios
- Seeds: Chia, flax, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame
Herbs and Spices
- Cinnamon powder: ¼ tsp, 1-2 times per day, sprinkle on nuts or fruit
- Ginger powder: sprinkle a pinch on sautéed vegetables
- Nettle tea in the morning to support digestion: 1-2 cups
- Chamomile tea in the evening to calm her nerves and soothe her soul: 1-2 cups
Lifestyle
- Gain social and spiritual support from her church
- Learn how to meditate by taking a class
- Write in her journal to express her thoughts and feelings
- Begin a regular walking program with a friend
- Learn how to shop for and prepare fresh, local foods
Impact
Within the first 3 weeks, she reported decreased fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels, improved energy and digestion. She started making smoothies and sautéed vegetables and increased her intake of water, nuts, seeds, spices, green vegetables, fruits, and beans.
Outcome
In the past year, she has continued to experience stable blood sugar levels, decreased dosages of insulin, had a weight loss 1-2 pounds per week (25 pounds in all), cleared most of her digestive complaints, improved her sleep, learned to manage her stress, and significantly reduced her binges. She attributes her new attitude and self-esteem to her diet and lifestyle changes and the incredible mentoring she has received from her nutrition consultant.