About ME

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My love for fitness began when I started running in 1987. Little did I know it would affect my life the way it did. When I visited Auburn University on a recruiting trip, an advisor  convinced me to major in nutrition. Diet and exercise were a perfect combination! From that point, staying healthy has always been a priority to me. However, being in healthcare for 25 years has  shown me just how many people are sick. It is becoming very apparent that the American lifestyle is making all of us less healthy. We have a choice though... we can make decisions that can prevent disease, cause disease, or even reverse disease. 

Bachelor of Science - BioNutrition and Dietetics, University of Kentucky

Bachelor of Science - Nursing, Indiana Wesleyan University

Masters of Science - Nursing,  University of Cincinnati

Doctorate of Nursing Practice - Nursing, University of Cincinnati

Certificate, Health and Life Coach, The Health Coach Institute

Over the last five years, I have become so intriqued by the study of Functional Medicine, or getting to the root cause of disease. I believe in taking a deeper dive into what causes our bodies to not work as well, rather than just taking a medication that mask symptoms or causes other ones.  Most diseases lead back to the gut biome, including cancer, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer's Disease, and more. This is what I love! Making changes in our lives can heal the body and reverse disease.  Hippocrates, whose known as the Father of Medicine, stated that "all disease begins in the gut". Over 2000 years later, we are finally heeding his words. 

I believe we can prevent and treat diseases, including cancer, which has become so prevalent and appearing earlier in life. New research in the last few years has linked gut health to cancer. Why one smoker develops lung cancer, while another persons does not, or why one person responds to chemo and another person does not? The answer may lie in the gut.