Some people have always dreamed of being a nutritionist. Not me. As a child, I ran away from soup every chance I got. Being a nutritionist was a decision I made even before I went to college, after I started learning about healthy eating and wanting to know more about how I could help people through food.

I am not the nutritionist telling you what to do, dictating the rules of a rigid, defined plan that is poorly adapted to those who come to me. 

I've always felt that imposed eating plans would be destined to be a source of stress, difficulty, and ultimately a further disconnect between a person and their goals.

My strategy is the exact opposite. I want those who come to me to be an active and central part of defining the strategy and action plan, which often goes beyond the limits of diets and food plans. 

I believe that the best strategies, the ones that will bring you the best results, will be simple enough to be put into practice by those who have to do it, adapted to their real life, while at the same time including the scientific complexity necessary to achieve the short, medium and long term health objectives.

Since graduating in Nutrition in 2009 from the Faculty of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Porto, which provided me with the best foundation I could have for my career, my path has not been the most obvious.

In addition to various training courses in health coaching, nutritional support, healthy cooking and nutrigenetics, I went into the area that seemed to make the most sense for its approach to the whole person and that I quickly fell in love with: nutrition and functional medicine.

I had the privilege of being chosen by Dr Cristina Sales to be part of her clinical team and join the nutrition nucleus, alongside Dr Daniela Seabra, from whom I also learned a lot. Dr Cristina showed me that it was possible to fulfil the mission that had led me to become a nutritionist: to improve people's lives through Nutrition, one of the essential pillars for their health. Those were 4 years that not only changed my view of medicine and nutrition but also influenced my whole professional career.

In 2014 I moved to Switzerland with my family where I embraced two challenges. The first was learning the German language, allowing me to become a nutritionist in Swiss lands, while volunteering in several support and social solidarity entities.

The second allowed me not only to stay connected to functional nutrition but also to develop a deep knowledge about the specifics of laboratory tests used in Functional Medicine and Nutrition. I went on to collaborate with Nordic Laboratories as a Patient & Practitioner Supporter.

In 2016 I started working at Rehaklinik Dussnang AG, a physical rehabilitation clinic in Dussnang, Switzerland, where I created the nutrition service. This experience allowed me to contact and support different types of patients in different contexts, coming from different parts of the country and the world. It was a job that also gave me a lot of pleasure to do. 

After the birth of my second child in 2020, I decided to take a break from clinical work as a nutritionist to focus on my family and one of the areas that deeply fascinate me: motherhood, positive parenting and baby-led weaning.

That was my goal. But I could not remain indifferent to Dr Miguel's invitation to rejoin the Clínica Dra Cristina Sales. It was with great joy that I returned to this team in 2021, following in Dr Cristina's footsteps, maintaining our principles and mission: to ensure that the body never limits what we can achieve.

Interests:
family, healthy eating, mindful eating, body-mind relationship, meditation, learning and teaching, Montessori education, positive parenting, Yoga, nature, travel, geocaching, friends. 

Languages:
Portuguese, English, German

Member of the Portuguese Order of Nutritionists:
307N