Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food

The medicinal plate

HOLISTIC NUTRITIONIST COURSE

Healing | recovery | perfect weight | vitality and wellness 🌱

Transform the way you understand food

A comprehensive, hands-on training programme in holistic nutrition and medicinal food preparation.

Discover how thoughtful food choices, traditional wisdom and practical preparation methods can support health, recovery from chronic illnesses, vitality and wellbeing throughout every stage of life.

190 hours of in-person training

My journey

At just seventeen, a single book changed the trajectory of my life. I read the story of a woman facing a cancer recurrence who chose to explore every avenue of healing, ultimately discovering the profound power of nutrition. Her journey sparked a question that became my life’s work: could food truly be that powerful?

Could what we eat fundamentally transform our health?

Driven by this question, I dedicated myself to understanding the intersection of food and vitality. I studied Ayurveda and the Kingston Method, earned my naturopathy qualification in 2002, and completed two years of intensive training in holistic nutrition. This education, combined with years of active clinical practice and countless other qualifications, has given me a deep, practical understanding of how the body responds to nourishment.

My time working directly with people has taught me an undeniable truth: food matters profoundly. The right food nourishes the body and supports its natural healing processes. Conversely, unsuitable dietary habits contribute to pain, poor health, and disease.

Today, in my early fifties, I feel more energised, sharp, and alive than ever before. I attribute this vitality to the principles of nutrition I teach. ‘The Medicinal Plate’ brings all of this clinical experience and knowledge together into one practical, comprehensive training program.

I invite you to heal with me and learn how to heal others

About the Programme

The Medicinal Plate offers a grounded approach to holistic nutrition, independent of commercial food trends and industry influence.

The programme combines theory with practical experience, helping participants understand not only what to eat, but also how to select, combine and prepare food in ways that support the body and maximise food synergy.

The training consists of 190 hours of in-person instruction, divided into three blocks of seven days each.

* Participants who are unable to attend some of the days in person due to personal circumstances may attend some classes via Zoom or access recorded lessons.

* Participants can also complete a missed block or days in the following intake.

What You Will Learn

Nutrition Throughout Life

Understand changing nutritional needs from breastfeeding and childhood through adulthood and older age.

Topics include food and its relationship with:

  • Brain development and cognitive function

  • Hormonal balance

  • Sport and nutrition
  • Internal organ function

  • Immune system development

  • Nervous system support

  • Muscles and the skeletal system

  • Healthy ageing

Essential Nutrients

Develop a practical understanding of:

  • Vitamins and minerals

  • Nutrient quality and quantity

  • Protein and amino acids

  • Plant-based and animal-based nutrient sources

  • Nutrient absorption

  • Food combinations to maximise synergy

oThe History of Human Nutrition

Explore how human diets have developed and changed through:

  • Culture, climate and the migration of nations
  • The agricultural revolution
  • The Industrial Revolution
  • The transformation of traditional food systems
  • The influence of modern food production on dietary habits

Different nutrition methods:

  • Ayurveda
  • Chinese medicine food
  • Keto diet
  • Raw food diet
  • Blood type diet
  • Gluten free diet

Each approach will be examined thoughtfully, including its foundations, potential applications, limitations and suitability for different people.

Emotional relationship with food

We will explore healing ways that allows individuals to develop a healthy relationship with food , releasing trauma and the impact of eating disorders

Fasting and Dietary Adjustment

Examine different fasting methods, including:

  • How to prepare and adjust

  • Potential benefits and limitations

  • Appropriate timing and duration

  • Situations in which fasting may not be suitable

You will also learn how to adjust menus, meal schedules and food combinations to support individual health needs.

The Medicinal Plate Principles

  • Turning food into medicine by learning to adopt a healthy relationship with food
  • Understanding and applying food synergy
  • Planning the optimal menu for individuals’ needs (health conditions, age, sex)

Practical Training

A few highlights from our upcoming program:

Iron Boost

Prepare a satisfying, iron-rich dinner using carefully selected food combinations designed to support nutrient synergy.

Protein bowl

Learn to prepare more than 10 different healthy and delicious protein bowls that truly support the body.

Fermentation

Learn to prepare fermented bread and pancakes, pickles, kimchi, and explore other fermented foods to support digestion and gut health followed by a four-hour practical workshop with an experienced fermentation specialist.

Medicinal Herbs

How to gather, preserve and prepare medicinal herbs while learning how they can be incorporated into everyday food and wellbeing practices.

Cacao: From Bean to Paste

Discover the nutritional qualities and healing power of raw cacao and learn how to process cacao beans into your own finished product.

Each participant will prepare and take home a one-kilogram block of cacao paste.

Natural Nut Cheese

Take part in a five-hour practical workshop exploring traditional methods for preparing natural cheeses from nuts and seeds to boost quantity and quality of amino acids and minerals.

Who Is This Programme For?

  • Individuals who wish to embark on a self-healing journey that provides them with everlasting tools and benefits.
  • PT, Health and lifestyle coaches.
  • Therapists who wish to expand and upgrade their skills and to provide nutritional coaching to their patients.
  • Parents that wish to reassure they have the right knowledge and tools to provide their families with supportive nutrition.

Investment for Your Qualification & Transformation: $6,000 + GST

This comprehensive fee covers 21 immersive days of in-person study spread across three-week blocks. To support your learning journey, full on-site accommodation is included at no additional cost for those travelling from afar.

Your investment provides all necessary ingredients for our hands-on workshops, including ceremonial cacao that you’ll craft yourself and take home as a finished product. You’ll also enjoy nourishing dinners prepared throughout the course—some crafted together by the group and others expertly prepared by a chef following medicinal plate principles.

To make this journey accessible, we offer flexible payment plans, allowing you to pay for each block separately.

The training is offered once a year.

2027 Location

Raglan
9 Kapokapowai

20-26 of May

20-26 of July 

20-26 of September

2028 Location

Auckland

Spaces are limited!