At Lifeblood Marketing, we get inspired by the businesses in our community and how they interact with their clients. This week, we’re thrilled to talk about Food Effects and its natural nutrition services with owner Brigitta Beer. Food Effects offers a variety of services from Live Blood Analysis and food intolerance tests, to strategic nutrition and supplementation consultations. The focus of the company according to Brigitta is to show her clients what’s going on in their bodies and help them live the healthiest lives they can through good food and a balanced lifestyle.
When speaking to Brigitta, it is immediately clear that her clients come first. Her extensive knowledge, careful research and personal experience with her own health and wellness is always used to empower each individual client that comes to her for help.
Read below to find out more about Brigitta’s own journey in discovering health and what her clients can expect when they visit Food Effects for the first time.
Fast Facts about Food Effects:
- Brigitta has helped over 500 people find a healthier lifestyle through analyses, nutrition and supplementation guidance and food-first training.
- She began her career as a fitness trainer, and then became inspired by the importance of what we put in our bodies through food and supplements and chose to pursue courses in holistic nutrition.
- Brigitta loves helping people, period. She works with clients from all walks of life and health, some who are looking for extensive and consistent help in managing ongoing health issues, and others who feel healthy but want to help maintain that through yearly visits.
- She is open for business both online and in person! Food Effects is able to offer many services and consultations online through video chat, but the most important test that Brigitta recommends each person begin with, the Live Blood Analysis, must be done in person.
How did you first get into holistic nutrition and wellness?
“I always had an interest in nutrition, I loved reading articles and books about clean eating, the best foods for your body, etc. and I was a huge foodie! I love cooking and creating in the kitchen and feeding people is my love language. But at the same time, I also had a very rocky relationship with food. I became very obsessed with my eating habits and my exercise routine. It controlled my thought processes and my exercise habits, every day. I thought it was normal to be living in ‘diet culture’ and that all women lived this way. It was controlling and even though I was ‘healthy’, my relationship with food was not.
Finally, I saw this control as a problem and something I wanted to change. Even that first step of changing perspective made me feel so much more free. There was this release of control and calorie-counting that really propelled me to a healthier mindset, which was huge for me! Over the years of working through my own health, I realized just how ‘imprisoned’ I was in that strict-diet mindset. It was groundbreaking for me to come out of that way of thinking and I knew I wanted to learn everything I could about health, fitness and nutrition, so I could support and then share this new, more empowering and freeing way of thinking about and consuming food. I wanted every woman to know that diet-culture was not normal. It was a revelation for me in 2013 when I realized this wasn’t the way it had to be.
Food is so much more than calories in and calories out… It is medicine
So, I first started learning to be a personal trainer, as I wanted to let women know they didn’t need to spend an hour on the treadmill to burn calories, and to tackle the diet mindset behind that as much as the action itself. But as I was working through the modules of the program, I realized that I wanted to have an official nutrition component to be able to help my clients even further. I put the personal training on hold and pursued a twelve month diploma program with the Canadian School of National Nutrition. I fully expected this to be what I already knew about clean eating and food, but just in a more official capacity. It turned out to be so much more. This course introduced me to the concept that food is so much more than calories in and calories out; it is medicine. Food can heal and food can damage. I was absolutely hooked from this holistic nutrition training and that began my career as a registered holistic nutritionist.”
Can you explain what a typical appointment looks like at Food Effects and when people should come to you?
“A typical appointment for a first-time client is a lot of me getting to know them, their health concerns, and their diet and lifestyle habits. I strongly encourage them to book a Live Blood Analysis for further insight beyond symptoms. This test is more common in European countries, also Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, but more and more natural health practitioners in North America are starting to see the value in it and are using it as an assessment tool. The history of live blood analysis actually goes back more than 100 years! This isn’t new science, however new scientific studies support the theories from these prominent scientists from the late 1800’s early 1900’s.
One small droplet of blood tells us so much about how the body is doing. When a client comes in for a Live Blood Analysis, we do the testing together in that 90 minute appointment. The client should be fasted for around 4-6 hours and well-hydrated. It is a very small prick of the finger and I take a sample of live blood and also eight samples of dried blood. Then, in that same session, we view the live blood sample on a large screen together in my office, and I talk through and explain what I see. The live blood sample is a sign of what is in the body ‘right now’, over the last hours/days/weeks. We review this together and I can note nutrient deficiencies, yeast/bacteria overgrowth, PH balances, gut health and digestive function, liver stress, and more.
My ultimate goal to my clients is always to say, ‘I love you but you’re doing great so I don’t need to see you again’, because they get what they need, have made changes for their health and move on!
The dried blood is also examined to see what story it tells. This is a more long term look at the body and indicates oxidative stress, parasitic behaviour, adrenal stress, bowel concerns, and deeper chronic conditions. I see different things in the brightfield and darkfield viewing of the live blood versus the dried blood, then put the puzzle pieces together – the body is a system and everything works together! I talk through each finding with the client, and at all times they can ask questions or clarify points in a very helpful, empowering way. Most of the time, I find my clients have these ‘Aha!’ moments, where I read something in their blood that lines up with how they have been feeling or something they have been discussing with their doctors. After looking into and discussing the findings from their blood samples, I can make nutritional recommendations to help with any symptoms they expressed or any deficiencies I found in their blood. I’m food-first always, so I try to make as many recommendations through food as possible, but am always able to back that up with supplementation recommendations as needed. We discuss a follow-up visit in 4-6 weeks to see how the changes are going for them and to plan next steps in their health journey.
As for who should come for a Live Blood Analysis? Everyone and anyone! I have a variety of clients across the board, in all ages, who have greatly benefited from this service. Some of them suffer from digestive issues with food, or chronic pain and illness and are looking for ways to help their bodies be as healthy as possible. But I also have clients who feel great, and just want to check in every year or so to make sure their bodies are as healthy as they can be. One of my favourite clients turned 90 this year and always feels in top health, but he comes once a year to see how his body is doing. Live Blood Analysis and holistic nutrition in general is not just for those who feel unwell. Preventative care is incredibly important. If I can help find issues in the body before they become so serious as to need long term medication or surgery, and slow or resolve them through proper nutrition and food choices, then that client has a much better opportunity to live a healthy, fulfilling life. My ultimate goal to my clients is always to say, ‘I love you but you’re doing great so I don’t need to see you again’, because they get what they need, have made changes for their health and move on!”
What’s your favourite part of the job?
“All of it! But ultimately the success stories from my clients. I never get tired of receiving those texts or emails from my clients that say ‘oh my gosh, things have already changed’ a few days or weeks after our session. I get inspired by my clients choosing to change their health with food and nutrition. Change can be scary and seem impossible, but when they choose to try and choose to trust me, I take that so seriously and care so much about getting to the bottom of their health. Some clients can have layers of health problems that take time to solve, but that just gets me more and more invested.
I’ve always loved asking the ‘why’ behind things… I got kicked out of a math class because I kept asking the teacher why we were solving an equation a certain way. Luckily, I’m in a profession where asking why someone’s body is behaving the way it does is a benefit. Personally, I have seen how much asking that question matters. I had an enlarged swelling on my neck from the age of 15. Most of my doctors ignored it after the thyroid test came up normal, so I just ignored it along with them. Finally, I was with another doctor over 10 years later, and she refused to ignore it, even when I said it was no big deal. It turned out that the lump was cancerous and I had to have surgery to have it removed. Asking why is incredibly important and I truly am so grateful to be able to do that on behalf of my clients, every day.”
Tell us about the future plans you’ve been considering for Food Effects:
“I will be honest, it’s been difficult during COVID_19, with social distancing and having my business closed to in-person consultations and testing. Everything I do is based on relationships, so I’m thrilled to get back to meeting with people in my office and in the community teaching about food. My vision all along has been hands on learning; inspiring people to learn by doing. I’m not a proponent of specific diets or eating plans as everyone is unique, but I can help inform anyone through teaching about pantry staples and long term, sustainable changes to their eating habits and food choices. I want to educate people on how possible it is to live healthily for whatever food works for them, whether they are vegan or follow a ketogenic plan, and help them decide if how they are eating is really serving them and their health goals. Doing workshops around nutrition and how we can best care for our bodies with food is something I’m very excited about. I’ve done a few already, and once things settle down, I’m really looking forward to growing that aspect of my business and showing people how much food they can prepare at home in their own kitchens, and why it matters.
Food is for the soul as much as the body and I cannot wait to take the stress and complication out of cooking and nourishing our bodies through hands-on education.”
Follow Food Effects and Brigitta to get nutrition tips and suggestions, delicious recipe and food ideas and empowering and honest discussions around health and wellness:
Food Effects Website: https://foodeffects.ca/
Food Effects Facebook: @foodeffects.ca
Food Effects Instagram: @food_effects_nutrition
Just like Food Effects, in-person business interactions are starting back up again for many business owners, but we know it isn’t ‘business as usual’. Do you need help discussing plans or ideas? Lifeblood is always here to grab a virtual coffee with you and discuss the options for your company. Reach out any time!
Have a community story or a business that you’re loving? Share it with us! Email [email protected] or contact us on Facebook at Lifeblood Marketing, we love hearing from you!
