From a young age I developed a great interest in the art and science of well-being. By witnessing the health problems of my parents, I realised the importance of a balanced life-style and healthy eating patterns. Although in the beginning of my journey my focus was on activity levels and exercise routines, after finishing my Bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Technology, I understood the enormous negative impact of the food industry on the global epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases like cardiovascular, diabetes or cancer.
Eager to learn more about the relationship of Nutrition and Lifestyle with Health, I completed successfully my Master’s on the exact same subject in London South Bank University. Through that educational experience I managed to connect the dots between ill-health, food and lifestyle patterns.
Further ahead in my life, I came across all the new discoveries on the field of epigenetics, that linked environmental and genetic influences to the traits and characteristics of an individual and revealed the fact that a large range of environmental, dietary, behavioural, and medical experiences can significantly affect the future development and health of an individual and their offspring. That had a tremendous impact on me, as I realised the undeniable effect of various environmental factors, including toxic exposures, dietary patterns, and behavioural impacts on a highly sensitive and responsive human epigenome.
At the same time I submerged into various spiritual practices like mediation and yoga, that had a very beneficial effect on my overall health and well-being. It became obvious to me that the right way to approach the human condition was under the holistic paradigm: in the quest for optimal health and wellness we have to consider the human person as a whole and complete being. In other words, body, mind, spirit and emotions are interconnected, integrated and inseparable, and they need to be in balance in order to achieve optimal health. If one of these parts is not functioning properly, all other parts will be affected. Health is achieved with treating the causes of the symptoms and disease- not just alleviating, masking, or addressing the symptoms.
Finally in 2019, I decided to dwell into the science of behaviour-change , through a postgraduate course on Health/Nutritional Coaching, as I understood that giving simply information to your clients is not enough in order to facilitate lifestyle changes and positively impact their health and well-being. To achieve the transformation of a person, he/she needs support as they set goals, unearth values & strengths and access intrinsic motivations to encourage the development of sustainable healthy behaviours and attitudes.
After completing succesfully the course, I felt much more empowered and ready to incorporate practical and effective strategies that can transform a person into their best version of themselves.