I’m Martina, a qualified nutritional therapist having completed a 2-year Post-graduate Diploma in Integrative Functional Nutrition. I have a research science background; my first degree was Physiology and Pharmacology and I spent 30 years working in clinical trials before deciding to re-train.

I’ve always loved cooking but my interest in nutrition as a career started about 5 years ago when I heard Tim Spector taking about his data on identical twins which showed that a healthy microbiome was critical to good health and that poor nutrition, lack of exercise,  stress and environmental factors led to a sub-optimal microbiome which had a downstream impact on all aspects of physical and mental health.  I joined the Zoe program which involved providing blood and stool samples and wearing a continuous glucose monitor to learn how my body responded to different foods. It was fascinating! I was astounded at how the subsequent changes made to my diet made me feel both physically and mentally. Then the pandemic hit and the impact of poor health on people’s ability to survive Covid and the burden on the NHS became startlingly evident. Whilst developing new cancer drugs was immensely rewarding, I could see there was a huge need to help people prevent and reverse chronic medical conditions and decided to pivot my career in this direction.

My approach is based on the latest scientific evidence rather than influencers, tabloid newspapers or supplement companies and I enjoy scrutinising research papers, busting myths and distilling science into simple take-home messages for busy people. I’m married with two teenagers and have always worked in the corporate sector so understand the time and budgetary challenges of getting home-cooked meals on the table when you are working all day and everyone has different preferences as well as evening activities. I don’t aim for perfection; home-cooked meals on 4-5 nights a week are as much as I can manage and that’s fine.  Socialising usually features wine at weekends and that’s ok too. Now I’m in my mid-50s, Zumba and circuit training has been replaced by yoga, strength training, reformer pilates and walking our dog. And that’s fine too because I enjoy it and can fit it into my life. Consistency is important as is feeling happy and healthy. However, I learned from my studies and saw first-hand from the Zoe program that we are all biologically different, so the support I offer is very much tailored to your needs, health status and goals.

Martina Franey
B.Sc. PGDip Functional Nutrition mBANT