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!