Helen Perks BSc.

10/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D3nwEYz5s/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Davina McCall’s recent breast cancer diagnosis is a reminder that behind every headline is a real person, facing real decisions, with real fear.

She’s already been through so much with a previous brain tumour, and now faces another layer of complexity and healing.

Cancer is never just about one part of the body, it’s about the whole terrain. The terrain is the internal environment where cancer grows or is kept in check, our immune system, detoxification pathways, hormone balance, stress load, mitochondrial function, inflammation levels, sleep quality and more.

This is why no two journeys are the same, and why there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

Every client I work with brings a different story, a different root cause, and a different set of needs, and we meet them there.

I wish Davina strength, clarity, and the space to fully heal, on all levels, and to anyone else walking this road right now, you’re not alone.

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

07/11/2025

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If you’re feeling guilty for needing more rest, please read this twice.

Poor sleep doesn’t just make you tired, it impacts immunity, blood sugar, stress hormones, and even cancer recurrence risk.

Melatonin is not just a sleep hormone, I t’s also a powerful tumour-suppressing compound, yet too many people say, “I’ll sleep when I’m better”, but the truth is, you can’t heal without it.

Sleep is your body’s deepest repair time, physically, emotionally, metabolically, and if treatment is affecting your sleep, you’re not alone but there are gentle ways that can help.

DM me “SLEEP” and I’ll send you 5 supportive tools to help you rest more easily during treatment, without needing a prescription.

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today.

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com
📲 Instagram:
📘 Facebook: The Cancer Nutritionist

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

07/11/2025

Vitamin F - Family!

Last night I spent the evening with my mum, my auntie and my uncle at Antico in Roker. It was one of those evenings that reminded me how important Vitamin F really is, Family.

We often talk about vitamins for the body, but we forget that connection, laughter and shared meals are nutrients too. The joy of being surrounded by people who know your history, your quirks and your stories is something no supplement can replace.

So today’s reminder is simple, nourish your relationships as much as you nourish your body, as both are vital to your wellbeing.

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com
📲 Instagram:
📘 Facebook: The Cancer Nutritionist

06/11/2025

What Does Success Really Mean To Me?

It’s not about money, it’s the moment a client says:

✔️“For the first time, I feel heard”, or

✔️When they hand a GP letter I’ve written… and finally get the tests they’ve been waiting months for.

✔️It’s reviewing blood results they were told were ‘normal’ when they weren’t, and making changes that actually move the needle.

✔️It’s seeing medication reviewed, reduced or stopped altogether, and reading how that shift has improved their energy, mood, and quality of life.

✔️It’s knowing that someone going through cancer treatment, or a chronic illness , feels more in control, more supported, more hopeful.

Success to me is impact, it’s creating change where the system falls short, it’s seeing a client feel stronger, sleep better, eat with confidence, or feel seen in a medical world that often only looks at the tumour, or the symptoms.

Yes, I run a business, but my real currency is trust, transformation, empowerment, and that quiet inner knowing that I’ve made an impact on someone’s day, or health, a little better.

What does success look like to you?

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today.

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com
📲 Instagram:
📘 Facebook: The Cancer Nutritionist

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

06/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16S5PaqHrL/?mibextid=wwXIfr

05/11/2025

If you know someone currently navigating cancer, or recovering after treatment, please consider sharing this post with them.

Many people are left to cope alone with the lasting impact of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and surgery. Fatigue, brain fog, pain, gut issues, hormonal disruption, and emotional overwhelm are often seen as things they simply have to ‘put up with’.

Support is available, and it goes far beyond diet advice.

As The Cancer Nutritionist, I use functional and lifestyle medicine to explore what’s really going on beneath the surface, from inflammation and mitochondrial stress to nutrient depletion, immune dysregulation, and gut imbalance. Every client receives a personalised RESPECT® Prescription that looks at the whole picture, not just the diagnosis.

Healing is about more than getting through treatment, it’s about recovering from it, and reclaiming the life you want to live.

If you know someone who could benefit, please pass this on, I It could be the message they didn’t know they needed.

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 helenperks.com
📍Based in the UK, supporting clients worldwide via Zoom

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17FheWrUKi/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Cancer isn’t just a medical diagnosis , it’s a life diagnosis.

When someone is diagnosed with cancer, all focus naturally turns to treating the tumour, but the tumour is rarely the full story.

Your body didn’t just break, as cancer develops when multiple systems are out of balance, often for years before the diagnosis.

From chronic inflammation to immune dysfunction, mitochondrial damage to detox overload, emotional trauma to blood sugar dysregulation.

Each of these terrains influences cancer development, treatment outcomes, and long-term recovery.

That’s why functional and lifestyle medicine, looks beneath the diagnosis to ask why. It’s not about blame, I t’s about understanding the root causes so we can begin to rebuild.

The NHS touches the tip of the iceberg. I support you to explore what lies beneath.

If you’re ready to approach your cancer journey differently, with clarity, compassion, and strategy, I’d love to support you.

DM me the word ROOTS to book a free 20-minute telephone call and learn how I could support you through your cancer journey.

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

03/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1aTk5PAUNo/?mibextid=wwXIfr

What Happens After the Diagnosis?

Nobody really talks about what happens once the dust settles.

You’ve had the scans, the treatment plan is underway, and suddenly… it hits you. The emotional fog, the questions, the pressure to stay strong.

Many people describe this phase as the most overwhelming of all. You’re expected to keep moving forward, but you’re still trying to make sense of it all.

If you’re feeling foggy, flat, or forgotten after a cancer diagnosis, you’re not alone.

This is exactly why I created the RESPECT® approach to offer clarity when the NHS just doesn’t have the time.

Top Tip! Ask your oncology team for a written summary of your treatment plan. Keep a daily log of how you feel, physically, emotionally, and mentally. These notes can be invaluable for adjusting your care and supporting recovery.

I’ll soon be releasing a free RESPECT® Recovery Checklist to help guide you through this post-diagnosis phase, one step at a time.

Follow me so you don’t miss it when it’s released, OR comment “PLAN” below and I’ll make sure it lands in your inbox.

You deserve more than just surviving, you deserve personalised support.

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today

03/11/2025

On the evening of 14th November, I’ll be attending the launch of the first National Integrative Oncology Centre in the UK, founded by my brilliant mentor, Dr Nina Fuller-Sheval.

This marks a pivotal step forward in how we approach cancer care, combining evidence-based conventional treatments, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, with nutritional, functional, and lifestyle medicine.

If you’re passionate about integrative health or work within cancer care, this is an event not to miss. You can find more details and tickets via the link below.

Who’s joining me?

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today



https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19zjReXMMX/?mibextid=wwXIfr

We are delighted to invite our community to join us at the National Centre for Integrative Oncology (NCIO) charity launch party in London this November. If you or your organisation are looking to support equitable access to clinically-led integrative oncology care, we look forward to seeing you there.

As a quick reminder, the NCIO objectives are to protect, preserve and promote better health, wellbeing and quality of life for people diagnosed with any form of cancer and their families or carers in particular by:
1) Providing equitable access to evidence-informed integrative oncology support to people living with and beyond cancer in the UK, through on-site and online programmes, assisting in oncology care and improved quality of life. This will include an app-based service, helpline support and 1:1 integrative medicine care, working in partnership with standard of care oncology providers, primary and secondary care, as well as other charitable organisations.
2) Undertaking, advancing or supporting integrative oncology research in the UK and disseminating the useful results for the public benefit
3) Educating and training healthcare professionals across public and private healthcare, as well as charity sectors, in the delivery of safe and effective multidisciplinary integrative oncology care for the public benefit.

31/10/2025

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“I Didn’t Know That Was a Side Effect…”

💭 Brain fog.
💧 Vaginal dryness.
😴 Poor sleep.
💥 Joint pain.
🥵 Intense hot flushes.

These are the silent struggles many women face after cancer treatment, yet they’re rarely spoken about.

Many women think they just have to live with it, and are told it’s part of being post-menopausal or “just what happens after chemo”.
The truth is, that these symptoms often stem from oestrogen suppression, treatment-induced menopause, or inflammation affecting the hormonal terrain, and they can be addressed.

Through targeted support, the right testing and food-first strategies, many women experience better energy, clarity, sleep, mood, and even confidence again.

This is where T = Therapeutics, Testing, and Targeted Support in my RESPECT® prescriptions comes in.

You deserve more than “coping”, you deserve personalised, science-based support that looks at what’s going on underneath, not just symptom patch-ups.

If you’re dealing with hidden side effects after treatment and want to feel more like you again, DM me or visit my website.

You don’t have to just live with it!

RESPECT® Your Future By Nourishing Today.

Helen Perks BSc
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional and Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today 🌿

30/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D6mdZ98A6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

When we think about gut health during cancer, most people think of bloating, constipation or diarrhoea.

The gut, however, plays a much bigger role, especially when you are going through chemo.

Did you know that your gut bacteria can influence:

- How well you tolerate chemo

- How effective your treatment is

- How your immune system responds to cancer

In one study, women with a more diverse gut before starting chemo had fewer side effects such as nausea and low white blood cell count.

Other research shows that an unbalanced gut can make side effects like diarrhoea, fatigue and mouth sores worse.

Some bad gut bacteria can even make chemotherapy less effective.

This is why I focus on supporting the whole body and lifestyle, not just the tumour. A healthy gut supports better outcomes.

If you want to support your gut during treatment, try the following:

🥦 Prebiotic rich foods like oats, flaxseeds, onions, Jerusalem artichokes, and asparagus

🥬 More fibre diversity, aim for 30 different plants a week

💧 Good hydration to keep the gut lining strong

I would love to hear in the comments how you are supporting your gut health.

I support people before, during and after treatment, helping you feel less overwhelmed and more empowered with evidence based functional and lifestyle medicine and nutrition.

Helen Perks BSc
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional and Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com

RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today 🌿

27/10/2025

I wanted to share something today that feels important.

Many of you now know me as The Cancer Nutritionist. My work is not simply about suggesting foods. I support people who are newly diagnosed, preparing for treatment, going through chemotherapy, radiotherapy or immunotherapy, or rebuilding their lives after treatment when support can feel very limited.

I offer three and six month packages so that each person has consistent support, guidance and advocacy throughout their journey. I walk alongside them, step by step.

The screenshots I am sharing today are from one of my clients. Messages like this are very common in my work. They reflect relief, improvement, understanding and a sense that someone finally sees the whole picture. I feel very privileged to do this work and I do not take that trust lightly.

My role goes far deeper than dietary suggestions. I analyse blood tests, stool tests and urine tests to understand what the body is asking for. I collaborate with GPs and consultants by writing clinical letters, requesting medication reviews when something does not appear optimal, and suggesting appropriate testing or referrals. This is not to replace NHS care. It is to enhance it.

NHS plus functional and lifestyle medicine creates the most supportive environment for healing. NHS clinicians are highly skilled but often time poor. I have the time and the training to notice details that are easy to miss when a person is juggling appointments, fatigue, pain, fear, or simply trying to get through the day. My role is to join the dots, to advocate where needed, and to help rebuild confidence in the body.

This is the systems approach to cancer in practice. A medical, biological, emotional and human understanding of what is happening inside the body and how to support the person living through it.

I am grateful every day for the trust people place in me. It is an honour to help improve quality of life, resilience and hope.

If you or someone you care about is navigating cancer at any stage, you are welcome to reach out. I am here to support you.

RESPECT® Your Future By Nourishing Today.

Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist
mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner

📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com