DIETITIAN & NUTRITIONIST SERVICES

Boost your quality of life through better diet & nutrition

At Sydney Pelvic Clinic we integrate dietary planning and nutritional management to ensure your overall health.

Dietitian Services Sydney

At Sydney Pelvic Clinic, we believe in an integrated approach to ensuring your overall health. Our clinical services are complemented by exercise classes and nutrition and dietary advice to help you achieve your health and lifestyle goals. The way we eat, the foods we choose, and our internal health play a large role in our energy levels, weight, fertility, and overall wellbeing.

Unfortunately, with our ease of access to information and so many apparent ‘nutrition experts’ these days, it can be overwhelming to understand what you should be eating. Our dietitian can help you navigate through the constantly changing nutrition information, keeping you up to date with the latest nutrition research and providing an evidence-based approach to nutrition considering the pros and the cons for each individual.

We strive to understand you holistically and what factors might be influencing your nutrition and diet choices. If you are frustrated, confused, or unsure about how best to eat for your lifestyle, condition, or situation, we will seek to understand and provide you with a solution to your problem. We provide guidance on a diverse range of dietary issues. In particular, gut-related pelvic issues for women and men such as; Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), erratic bowels, constipation, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. We also treat a number of women’s health issues including endometriosis, pelvic pain, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

For those interested in the low FODMAP diet, we specialise in applying this diet to help identify trigger foods, and support patients through the reintroduction phase and beyond. If you are unsure what is causing your gut symptoms we can support you to try and determine the root cause.

Gemma Reeves APD
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Do you:

  • Suffer from Pelvic Pain want to know if diet can help?
  • Experience gut issues – Bloating? Erratic bowels? Stomach cramps after eating?
  • Experience hormonal Issues such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid dysfunction?
  • Think poor gut health might be contributing to low immunity, low mood, or other health issues?
  • Struggle with emotional eating when you are stressed, bored, or had a bad day? Alternatively, you don’t understand what triggers you to make undesirable food choices?
  • Are you unsure about how best to eat for your body to achieve your goals?
  • Have difficulty losing weight or sticking to a diet long term and need some support and accountability?
  • Have food intolerances and feel unsure and restricted with food?
  • Want to get back to your pre-baby weight whilst keeping your baby and yourself nourished?
  • Worry your acne might be related to food and diet?
  • Feel unsure about how best to eat for your condition? e.g. coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease, ulcerative colitis
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Women's Health Services

Our Service

We complete a comprehensive and holistic assessment of your health, diet, lifestyle, symptoms, and history. We consider all factors that play into the way you eat, the symptoms you experience, and the foods you choose. If you have any recent blood tests or relevant scans and results we will request you bring these along to your initial consultation. We may also request additional blood or other testing from your Doctor.

We work with our clients to develop a customised plan that is appropriate to their lifestyle, health, personal preferences, and goals. This may include meal plans, recipes, educational material, supplements, or strategies to incorporate into your day. We will provide you with strategies to monitor your progress and recommend the appropriate follow-up, accountability, or support that is likely to lead to the greatest success.

Meet our Dietitian

Gemma Reeves provides Dietitian, Nutritionist and Food Coach services for total dietary health and wellbeing.

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Gemma is a Dietitian who is passionate about supporting those with diseases that negatively impact their lifestyle. As a Health Coach, she understands the chronic disease and the challenges and barriers that limit progression to better health. Gemma has a special interest in gastrointestinal and autoimmune diseases.

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Common Symptoms

If you are experiencing discomfort or reduced quality of life-related to your digestive system, or simply unsure about how best to eat for your body to achieve your goals, book an initial consult with our Dietitian to discuss your symptoms, and get a treatment and management plan that works for you.

Digestive Conditions

Do you feel unsure about how best to eat for your condition?

Coeliac Disease

Crohn’s Disease

Diverticular Disease

Ulcerative Colitis

Hormonal Issues

Do you experience hormonal issues?

Endometriosis

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Thyroid Dysfunction

Gut Health

Do you think poor gut health may be contributing to low immunity, low mood or other health issues?

Bloating

Erratic Bowels

Stomach Cramps after eating

Post-Natal

Do you want to get back to your pre-baby weight whilst keeping your baby and yourself nourished?

Pelvic Pain or Interstitial Cystitis

Do you wonder whether your pelvic pain or Interstitial Cystitis could be helped by changing your diet?

Weight & Diet Management

Do you have difficulty losing weight or sticking to a diet long term and need some support and accountability?

Acne

Do you worry your acne might be related to food and diet?

Emotional Eating

Do you struggle with emotional eating when you are stressed, bored, or had a ‘bad day’?

Food Intolerances

Do you have food intolerances and feel unsure and restricted with food?

Conditions We Treat

Our qualified Dietitian, Nutritionist and Food Coach Gemma Reeves can help diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of women’s and men’s dietary health conditions.

Depression

Shifting dietary patterns to a specific style of eating may improve depressive symptoms in combination with standard therapies. We can support you in making beneficial changes.

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Endometriosis & Chronic Pelvic Pain

Endometriosis & Chronic Pelvic PainEndometriosis and some Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP) conditions can be associated with higher inflammatory markers. These conditions are common, with endometriosis affecting 1 in 10 women2…
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Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory Bowel DiseaseInflammatory bowel disease is chronic, incurable conditions that impact the gastrointestinal tract. Most frequently the small and/or large intestines.  Other parts of the body can also be impacted…
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Dietician FAQs

There are many reasons why you may feel bloated after eating or even on waking. These include IBS or other functional gut disorders IBD, coeliac disease, constipation, food intolerances, stress, sleep and even eating habits. If bloating is affecting your day-to-day life, there are many strategies that can be used to alleviate or improve your symptoms and your quality of life. Diet and lifestyle strategies that can help improve digestion and reduce bloating,  . At times different professions are required to get the best outcomes, including a psychologist or gastroenterologist.

Everyone seems to be a “nutrition expert” these days and everyone is promoting a different diet, so it is easy to see why you feel confused or even overwhelmed by nutrition. One of the best things you can do if you feel overwhelmed or confused about nutrition is to focus on one thing at a time. Most of the time we jump ship from strategy to strategy as soon as we see someone recommending the next new diet. Finding someone you trust who can educate you and support you to be consistent with a diet that suits you is essential if you feel overwhelmed with information. We are able to help guide you through the sea of misinformation out there and help you find the approach that is best suited for your lifestyle.

This will depend on what you are visiting for and how much support you would like or need on your health journey. Generally speaking a minimum of three sessions are required to provide you with the follow up and adaptations to your diet based on the progress or outcomes you see. We see some of our clients weekly while others are only seen fortnightly or monthly – it all comes down to how much support and guidance you need to make the changes you wish to make. There is no right or wrong, good or bad number of sessions, what is the right number of sessions for you may not be the same for another.

There are many health and medical conditions that can contribute to low energy levels and fatigue. From a diet and lifestyle perspective inadequate calories, poorly timed carbohydrates, refined carbohydrates, inadequate nutrient intake as well as stress, sleep and lifestyle factors can all play a role in some individuals your energy levels throughout the day. We can provide a full assessment to determine if dietary factors may be contributing to your fatigue and also guide you in the direction for further investigations if required.

Most of the time when we are struggling to stick to something that we know will improve our health it is because we are approaching it with the wrong mindset. We are thinking that we must follow this perfectly otherwise there is no point following it at all. This is not the case. One of the strategies we teach is gradual implementation of any diet. A step by step approach means you aren’t overwhelmed by change all in one week. You can create lasting habits that don’t actually require motivation to stick to, it will become part of the way you live your life. “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good”.

There is no one diet that will be the best weight loss diet for everyone. Time and time again the research has shown that the best weight loss diet is one that is sustainable for you, one that you can stick to for life without it feeling like a burden. We do not follow a single dietary approach to weight loss and we collaborate with you to find an approach that is sustainable for you in the long run which is safe and scientifically valid… Many weight-loss diets focus on short-term results at the detriment of long-term health and can actually cause excessive weight gain over time.. This is why finding an approach that is sustainable for you is essential if you want to lose weight AND help to maintain it.

Possibly, an anti-inflammatory diet can help reduce systemic inflammation which contributes to pain in the body. Diet is usually not the root cause of pain and may not completely elevate pain but if improving your diet can even reduce pain by 20% it is worth a try. Plus, there are no side effects to a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet.

Supplements are, as the name suggests, there to supplement the diet, not replace the diet. In some individuals and some conditions, supplementation may be required. Our approach is very much a ‘food first’ approach whereby nutrients should ideally be obtained from foods. However, for some, it is not possible to reach the therapeutic dose required for their condition or need without supplements. In these situations, there are certain situations where supplements are recommended regardless of the diet e.g. pregnancy or in a vegan diet. We will discuss with you the supplements that may complement your nutrition therapy. We take a scientific approach to supplements using them in the situations they are required rather than prescribing multiple supplements without evidence to back their use in that situation or condition. Should you choose to take additional supplements, we can discuss with you the safety of these supplements to ensure you are only improving your health.

Emotional eating isn’t just sitting watching chick flicks eating ice cream. Emotional eating encompasses eating when you’re bored, tired, stressed, or happy, and not all emotional eating is bad. It is when emotional eating becomes a habit that we really need to address it. That is when food becomes a natural way of dealing with difficult feelings whether that be boredom, stress, or loneliness without even recognising the true motivation or reason for eating. To stop emotional eating one must first become aware of when they emotionally eat and why. We use many behavioural and psychological strategies to assist our clients in understanding their underlying reasons for eating as well as provide them practical strategies to move away from food as a way to deal with emotions.

When these procedures don’t find a disease or organic cause as such, IBS is often the outcome. While there no physiological or chemical tests that tangibly diagnose IBS, gastroenterologists are experienced in eliminating other forms of disease and diagnosing IBS. IBS  is where dietary and lifestyle approaches become the key strategy. We will work with you to identify the underlying contributors to your symptoms and assist in developing a plan to improve them. This can involve food, lifestyle, and psychological support.

The only difference here is the spelling. Dietitian is typically used in Australia and the UK while Dietician is used more in the USA. Whether someone is qualified as a dietitian or dietician usually doesn’t mean there is any difference in the qualification, just a difference in their location or spelling preference. In Australia Accredited Practising Dietitians (APD’s) are certified with the only industry body within Australia for Dietitians, called Dietitians Australia. If you desire scientifically based treatments and choose to trust your health to a credible expert, check for APD status.