ELYSE COMERFORD

I'm Elyse Comerford, an Integrative Nutritionist and Certified GAPS (Gut & Psychology/Physiology Syndrome) Practitioner, Holistic Health Coach, Exercise Scientist, Keynote Speaker, Mentor, and most importantly, Mum to Dylan!   

My primary focus for the past few years has been in private practice, helping hundreds of families overcome a whole host of health issues through the implementation of nourishing and healing principles, reducing toxic stress, and the GAPS protocol. This has become my specialty, and has led me to work with families all over the world. It has been a culmination of my education and experience in Nutrition, but most importantly my experience in my own healing journey. It is this experience that has driven my passion to empower as many people as possible with the key to their own health. My approach is based on taking the normal "guilt, blame, shame and deprivation" approach and completely turning it on it's head, focussing instead on healing, nourishing, and listening to the body. 

As a teenager I suffered with acne, persistent thrush, cysts and abscesses in my breasts and ovaries, constant bloating, anaemia, depression, sugar addiction, constipation, diarrhoea, and food intolerances that were getting progressively worse. I had begun thinking these issues were normal, and something I would have to live with. It was a very empowering moment when I learnt the connection the gut has with all of these issues, and how I could transform my health by first transforming my gut and microbiome (our army of bacteria that we cannot survive a second without!).

In my early 20s I became fed up with trying every fad diet, supplement and practitioner I could find, to no avail. I started eating ‘real food’ in the hope that food in it’s natural state surely would not make me sick. I then discovered the importance of gut health, and so began a passionate journey into understanding the microbiome. Once I was pregnant with my first child, this pushed me to research everything I could so that he would be as healthy and happy as possible. Science has found that an imbalance of gut bacteria is a contributing factor in obesity; that bacteria plays an important role in normal healthy brain function and the prevention of anxiety and depression; and bacteria is an essential part of our immune system, and our body will struggle to deal with viruses, infections, pathogens and toxins if it is out of balance.

Armed with all this new information a passion was ignited within me to heal my health, and this soon branched out to helping everyone that I care about. I had already completed a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science with Charles Darwin University at the time, and with any spare moment I had I was pouring myself over scientific research to do with the gut. I went on to complete a Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition with Deakin University, a certification in Holistic Health Coaching with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, followed by my GAPS Practitioner Certification with Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride.

For those of you who don't know GAPS, it is a nutritional protocol being used by tens of thousands of people around the world to heal the gut and recover from an array of health issues. Although GAPS is not the only thing that I do! My goal with any client that I work with is to devise a plan that suits them perfectly, whether that is simple steps to a whole food diet, or deeper gut healing. My desire to show people that they do not need to suffer is what inspired me to start my business, and I now work with clients from all around Australia and internationally improve their health. The gut is a very interesting place, and I look forward to diving deep into all things gut health with you and your family.

Qualifications

BEx & SportSc, GCert HumNutr Certified GAPS Practitioner