Nutrition - what is the meaning of it for our health?

Blitz interview with Maya Petrova - the holistic nutritionist at Healthy-Lifestyle

Recently, in Bulgaria the profession consultant on nutrition has become more and more popular among many people some of who qualified, some of who got into the profession only through personal experience and reading around the web started to prescribe diet supplements and training programs to help to make people look and feel better. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult to find an individual approach to any professional who can be trusted not only to help us look good, but also to be healthy in the long run and to build habits of a healthy lifestyle, not just eating or moving.
We, Healthy Lifestyle, believe that health is our greatest wealth, and as we humans look to allocate our finances, investment them in terms of health and it is appropriate to rely on a trusted professional that has proven to know that our 'health assets will be in safe hands. Such a person we met in the face of Maya Petrova - already proven holistic nutritionists, dietician, who after several years of successful practice in London, decided to become part of our team and help us fulfil our mission for a healthy lifestyle. More about the qualifications and experience of Maya you can find here, and today's position is dedicated to what she is doing and her opinion on the importance of Nutrition as a forthcoming profession in our country. Here's how our interview went.

Maia, hello and thank you for agreeing to tell us more about the way you work and yourself. For start, let us know about you and how you decide to become part of the Healthy Lifestyle team.

Hello from me too. Since 2011 I have been interested in healthy eating and while studying in Scotland I have been met different methodologies, tried them out on myself, started to practice and was interested in everything related to human health. I was working for a family cosmetics company in Edinburgh one summer, and that sparked my strong interest in the industry, I created a blog and started to build up knowledge from books, online training and my own experience. I tried a lot of things on myself, which I did not help a lot at the moment, so I went to a more renowned education and after I graduated I moved to London. There I met the owner of one of the leading nutrition training organizations, personal trainers and bodybuilders. I liked it, got a lot of knowledge, practical experience and I started intensive training on various topics such as parasitology, coaching, Chinese medicine, facial analysis, emotional connection with health and many others. I had the honour to learn from world-renowned professionals such as Paul Chek, Emma Lane, Key Leatham, Omaro, Dr. Omar Amin, Toby and Kate Macartney and others. After going through these courses and gaining experience in David Propert's holistic clinic, Calmer Clinics in London, I went back to Bulgaria temporarily, because I had many inquiries from my acquaintances and friends, relatives. So I met the Healthy Lifestyle team, whose collaboration proposal is the same as my intention to reach more people with the knowledge and skills I have.

Tell us about what nutrition is and what is a holistic approach?

The main goal of a nutritionist is to give the chance to the client to improve their health by using quality, personally-friendly foods, natural supplements and healthy lifestyle recommendations. We aim to get to know everyone's health through food and new useful ways to inspire him to live according to their needs and specific characteristics. We know that everyone is different, so one consultation lasts about 1 hour, and dieting takes between 2 and 6 hours depending on the case and the necessary research. Ours, oath, are the words of Hippocrates: Let your food be a medicine and medicine - the food!

The holistic approach is a natural approach to health, which uses proven nutrition techniques, healthy lifestyle and detoxification. Instead of focusing on just one aspect of health (such as eating) or adopting a universal methodology, the holistic approach assesses the complete human health history, emotional state, habits of life, thought patterns, and the living environment to determine the underlying cause of a certain disease or imbalance in the body.

Here are just some of the issues that holistic nutritionists and nutritionists can help:

• Acne/skin diseases
• Depression / mood / happiness
• Detoxification
• Food Allergies
• Prevention of diseases (ie cancer / osteoporosis / arthritis)
• Hormonal problems
• Low energy / fatigue
• Sleep problems
• Weight loss or increase in muscle mass

What is your role in the Healthy Lifestyle team and how can we get in touch with you?

I am responsible for the questions in the calculator itself and the Mifflin St Jeor formula, which is considered the most accurate way to measure the daily calorie intake. My main goal is to give the necessary personalization of the project by giving the option to more people to consult with a professional to take care of their health. That's why we have specific questions about diseases that help us filter our clients and be really useful, not just commercial. My vision is to help in the best way to everyone - if there is a need for a medical evaluation to redirect the person to the relevant professional.

Due to these factors, we give Healthy Lifestyle customers the opportunity to sign up for personal consultations with me - live in Sofia or Pleven or online.

The consultation takes place within 1 astronomical hour by skype or on-site in Sofia / Pleven, where I have personal cabinets. During the consultation, I look deeply at your past and current health status by asking you a number of questions about the individual human systems, the environment in which you live and work, and how you would like to improve your overall health. As part of the analysis, I use methods of Chinese medicine, human design, astrology and psychology. The live consultations are supplemented by a segment analysis that shows the percentage of fat, muscle mass and water in the body, together with the required number of calories a day at low and high activity. In addition to this analysis, I also carry out Cambridge Nutritional Sciences' Food Detective blood tests to test food intolerance to 46 foods. If necessary, I work with Carilab Excellence and other private laboratories for the appointment of additional blood tests as well as with Dr. Kalina Bacheva - Dermatologist and PhD in Chemistry, and Prof. Ivona Daskalova, Head of Clinic of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at MMA, Sofia.

After the consultation, I can now figure out what the next steps will be - additional research, visiting someone else's or personalized diet prepared personally by me - as they will be detailed in an online profile created by Healthy Lifestyle.

Do you have the latest advice to our readers to motivate them to start a healthier lifestyle?

For me, a healthy lifestyle is not extreme - it is the personal responsibility of every person who values life and wants to enjoy it for a long time. That was the norm at the time - people lived with natural foods, so they ate many things that we now 'often define' as 'bad' - white bread, alcohol... The problem is in the quality of the lack of nutrients in today's foods. We need to be ashamed when we choose poor quality food because it's like using our body as a trash can. We choose the cheaper without thinking about the cost in the long run. Here is important to know that everyone is different, a meal can be useful for one and harmful to another. Do not be irresponsible to yourself - you have one life - how long and happy you will be, and through your actions, thoughts and choices you can make that decision.

I thank all of you who have chosen to take the time to read this interview and visit our site.