Hi, I'm Sara.
My Journey Helping Others Started With My Own Health Issues...
After earning my bachelor's degree, I hadn’t been on my own for long when a harsh reality kicked in. I found out that my chosen career path in advertising and marketing was pure STRESS.
I got really sick as a consequence.
Long work hours and a ridiculously unhealthy lifestyle wreaked havoc on my immune system.
At just 22 years old, I was suffering from frequent colds, respiratory infections, skin rashes, poor sleep, anxiety and worsening irritable bowel syndrome.
I tried to fix my symptoms with way too much medicine.
I never cooked and I ate like crap. I was on the go, eating out, partying with friends after work – I even ate McDonalds! I always felt bloated, depressed and exhausted.
This endless cycle – working to pay bills without passion, waking up each day feeling worse – I knew it had to end.
My Awakening
Things started to fall into place, but something was still missing.
With a newfound curiosity about wellness, I enrolled as a part-time student in the rigorous Master of Nutrition Therapy (MNT) program at the Nutrition Therapy Institute (NTI).
Their science-based program would teach me all I needed to know about food as medicine. I began learning so much and eating better.
Working full time, teaching yoga part-time, going to classes part-time – I was overwhelmed trying to tackle all of these things at once. But, this was a great turning point in my life.
Healing Myself & A Leap Of Faith
During my advanced studies to become an MNT, I researched anti-inflammatory nutritional protocols to improve or reverse autoimmune disease. This topic interested me because autoimmune diseases affect nearly 50 million people, and there’s been a sharp rise in autoimmune disorders in the past few decades.
Many autoimmune diseases have stress at the root cause.
And, autoimmune diseases affected me personally. Years earlier when I was at my sickest, I had been diagnosed with both Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Celiac disease.
So, I applied these nutrition principles to my own life and I healed (reversed!) my autoimmune diseases.
It sounded like a miracle to some, but I knew these diseases were reversible through changing diet and lifestyle habits and balancing the immune system.
Despite how crazy it seemed, I left my ten-year career in marketing to start my own nutrition business in order to help others.
Taking It To The Next Level
I am proud of what I do!
In 2015, I became Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition® - a credential which demonstrates that I have achieved the highest level of professional recognition (validating my knowledge and experience) in the holistic nutrition industry.
Being Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition® enables me to serve you with the best, most current research and advanced nutritional science.
To maintain this designation, I am required to take part in and document numerous continuing education units every two years.
Board certification proves that I am aware of and conduct my nutrition business within the legal scope of service and standards of professional conduct.
I am very proud of this designation and it is my hope that the value it adds to your health journey is evident in every service I offer.
I am a professional member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP), and I also do strategic contract work for this organization to help further the mission and goals of the holistic nutrition field at large.
I have also received certification as a First Line Therapy practitioner and studied numerous blood chemistry analysis through coursework and complex case studies.
As a graduate of NTI, I later became an instructor at the school, where I taught entry-level and advanced curriculum both in the classroom and online for five years.
I have been a teacher, mentor and internship instructor for nearly 500 nutrition students in Denver, and around the country.
My passion to share my knowledge and enthusiasm for nutrition extends in to every aspect of my work and my life!
The nutritional wisdom I have accumulated is from my own journey, as well as acquired from my beloved clients.
– Sara Peternell, MNT
