I'm VJ, and I am a Nutritionist and Autoimmune Disease Expert.
12/02/2026
When I was younger, I used to love watching Dawson’s Creek. It was one of those shows I genuinely looked forward to each week. Those kinds of series hold a special place in your heart. They help you muddle through emotions you don’t yet fully understand when you’re young.
When James Van Der Beek revealed his cancer diagnosis, it made me feel deeply sad. Not only for what he and his family were going through, but because it felt like a small piece of my own history was quietly shifting too.
Over the past year, I’ve followed him on Instagram, and some of his posts have genuinely moved me. In the midst of what must have been unimaginably difficult circumstances, he showed up with courage, dignity and extraordinary kindness. There was no bitterness. No self-pity. Just presence.
It reminded me that how we show up in the world truly matters.
Can we choose kindness instead of frustration? Consideration instead of reactivity? Can we notice what is still good, even when life feels unfair?
I know that isn’t easy — especially when you’re living with chronic illness or loss. But I feel truly inspired by what he shared. It’s a reminder that while we don’t choose everything that happens to us, we do have some agency over how we respond. And I’m trying to carry that with me a little more in the everyday moments.
Thank you for the courage and kindness you showed.
Be at rest, wherever you are.
10/02/2026
Many of my clients find me at the point where they feel like they’ve tried everything.
They’ve worked with excellent practitioners, followed the protocols that are supposed to work, and done everything “right”. And yet… nothing has really shifted. Or worse, they feel exhausted, restricted, and quietly disappointed in themselves for not getting the results everyone else seems to get.
I understand that feeling more than you might think, because before I was a clinician, I was a patient.
I’ve spent over 25 years studying autoimmune disease, supporting thousands of clients, reading the research and constantly refining my approach. But I’ve also lived it in my own body.
I’ve followed textbook plans that helped a little but made life miserable. I’ve chased “perfect” protocols and ended up burnt out. I’ve tried sophisticated interventions that looked brilliant on paper and triggered huge flares.
What I learnt — sometimes the hard way — is that healing isn’t about doing more or pushing harder. It’s about listening more closely.
Even now, ten years symptom-free, I still have a sensitive system. I notice chemicals, I’m careful with food quality, and I protect my energy. My health isn’t accidental — it’s intentional.
That’s why I work the way I do. No two people are the same, and when you’ve lived this yourself, you recognise the nuances, the hidden triggers, and what actually works long term.
My job isn’t to hand you a generic protocol. It’s to investigate your story, uncover the root causes, and build a framework you can live with — so progress feels sustainable, not stressful.
I have something new coming soon with only a few spaces available. If you’d like to be first to hear about it, download my free guide, The Autoimmunity Recovery Plan, and join my mailing list.
If I can make this process gentler for you than it was for me, every step was worth it.
09/02/2026
I was diagnosed with hair loss when I was seven years old. At the time, no one spoke about root causes or immune systems or anything systemic. I went to a dermatologist, was examined under a bright clinical light, and given a topical treatment for my scalp. The focus was entirely local, as though the problem lived only on the surface. There was no conversation about why it might be happening. It was something to manage, not understand.
Looking back now, that feels incredibly telling. Alopecia is an immune issue, yet the approach was purely cosmetic rather than stepping back and asking what might be happening internally. Gut health wasn’t discussed. Hormones weren’t discussed. Nutrient absorption, stress, inflammation — none of it was part of the picture.
Years later, when I started working in clinic, I realised not much had changed. People were still being told to check iron or thyroid and sent away if the numbers looked “normal”. But those tests tell you what is low. They rarely explain why.
Hair, in my experience, is a barometer. It’s often the first place the body pulls resources from when something deeper is under strain — digestion, hormones, energy, immune load, or environmental stressors quietly percolating in the background.
So now I test differently. I look at gut function, hormone rhythms, mitochondrial energy, environmental triggers like mould, and food reactivity. Not because more testing is better, but because the right testing gives you clarity.
They’re the kinds of investigations I wish someone had offered when I was seven.
If you’d like support managing this, comment TESTS and I’ll send you the details. I also talk through each one in last week’s Friday 5 episode of The Autoimmune RESET Podcast.
06/02/2026
Most people still think of rheumatoid arthritis as something that happens in the joints.
An image tends to come to mind straight away — swollen fingers, stiff knees, aching wrists — as though it’s simply a mechanical problem, a bit of “wear and tear” that comes with time. And while those symptoms are very real, they’re only one small part of a much bigger picture.
Because rheumatoid arthritis isn’t local, and it isn’t simply structural. It’s systemic and immune-driven, which means inflammation doesn’t stay neatly contained inside a joint. It can influence the whole body, often long before pain becomes the obvious focus.
In clinic, I often notice the quieter changes first.
The fatigue that feels out of proportion to someone’s life. The breathlessness walking upstairs. Brain fog that makes simple decisions feel heavier than they should. Digestive changes, dry eyes, low mood, recurrent infections, or just a sense that the body isn’t as resilient as it once was.
Individually, these symptoms don’t look rheumatological at all. But together they tell a story of systemic inflammation.
And that’s exactly why they’re so often missed.
Next week I’m delivering a CPD for the Institute for Optimum Nutrition () called The Hidden Drivers of Arthritis: Beyond Wear and Tear, where we explore this more deeply and look at arthritis through a functional, whole-body lens. Because once you understand that arthritis is far more than joints wearing down — and that knee pain, stiffness, and swelling can be influenced by things like gut health, oral health, immune activation, and underlying metabolic imbalances — the entire conversation shifts.
We stop chasing symptoms in isolation. And start asking better questions about what is driving the inflammation in the first place. That’s where meaningful change tends to happen — not at the surface, but at the root.
If you’re living with arthritis or autoimmune symptoms yourself, you can download my free guide, The Autoimmunity Recovery Plan, for a gentle starting point on supporting your body systemically. The link is in my bio.
05/02/2026
For years, I thought feeling wired and slightly anxious was just part of who I was.
I was the capable one. The reliable one. The person who could juggle everything and keep going. From the outside, I looked high functioning and “fine”. But underneath, my body told a different story. Sleep was light and fractured, my shoulders lived somewhere near my ears, and by mid-afternoon I’d hit that familiar wall where coffee felt like the only answer.
I told myself I just needed to try harder.
Looking back now, I can see it wasn’t mindset or motivation. It was physiology.
My nervous system had been running in fight-or-flight for so long that I didn’t remember what calm actually felt like. And when my energy finally gave way in my thirties, it wasn’t dramatic or sudden — just a slow, quiet depletion that made everything feel heavier than it should.
Which is why I’m always cautious when I hear the phrase “cortisol detox”.
Cortisol isn’t toxic. It’s not something to flush out. It’s a life-saving hormone that helps us wake up, think clearly and respond to stress. The problem I see in clinic is rarely excess — it’s dysregulation. Lost rhythm. A body that hasn’t felt safe enough to truly rest.
And those bodies don’t need cleansing. They need support.
Regular meals. Minerals. Morning light. Sleep. Gentle movement. Breathing. Vagal tone. Small, steady signals of safety that allow the body to repair.
Sometimes I also use tools like vagus nerve stimulation to help that shift happen more easily — and it’s now available for those in the US too.
If you’d like the exact ways I support nervous system recovery with clients, comment SUPPORT and I’ll send everything over.
Because most of the time, healing isn’t about removing more.
It’s about rebuilding what’s been quietly depleted.
04/02/2026
This week on the podcast, in my conversation with Holly Bertone, we spoke about something I see so often in clinic yet still feels quietly misunderstood: emotional eating, and the role food can play as comfort.
Not in a dramatic or disordered way, but in the very human, everyday way so many of us recognise. Eating when we’re stressed, overwhelmed, lonely, exhausted, or simply needing something that feels safe.
What I loved about our discussion is that it gently moves the conversation away from blame.
Because emotional eating isn’t usually a willpower problem. It’s often physiology.
Food changes our chemistry. It raises serotonin and dopamine, steadies blood sugar and lowers cortisol. It quite literally helps the nervous system feel calmer. Of course we reach for it when life feels heavy. It works.
And this becomes even more pertinent in autoimmune disease, where the body is already carrying a chronic, invisible load. Inflammation is percolating in the background, energy fluctuates, sleep is disrupted and nutrients are often depleted. Add in overly strict or “perfect” diets and we can inadvertently under-fuel ourselves, which only makes cravings louder. What looks like lack of control is often just the body asking for safety and nourishment.
But alongside nourishing the body, there’s another piece that matters just as much, which is gently digging a little deeper and asking why you’re seeking comfort in the first place. Is it chronic stress at work, burnout, poor sleep, feeling unsupported, or simply never giving yourself space to rest? Sometimes food is solving an emotional problem that hasn’t yet been acknowledged.
So instead of asking how to stop emotional eating, I encourage people to get curious. Eat regularly, prioritise protein, sleep and minerals, support your nervous system, and also address the root stressors where you can. When both the biology and the emotional load are supported, the urgency around food often softens naturally.
The episode is out now, and my chat with Holly is one I think many of you will really resonate with.
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02/02/2026
As we move into February, I’ve been reflecting on where I want to place my focus — both in clinic and in the conversations I share here.
Certain themes seem to be quietly percolating across so many of my clients right now. Cold hands and circulation issues. Joint stiffness. Lingering inflammation. Parents managing autoimmune diagnoses with their children. And that familiar question underneath it all: how do we support the body in a way that feels steady and sustainable, rather than reactive?
So this month, everything I share will centre around building resilience from the foundations up.
With it being Raynaud’s Awareness Month, I’ll be talking more about circulation and nervous system regulation, and the small daily habits that help improve blood flow and warmth naturally. I’ll also be sharing more around joint health and the gut–immune connection, because pain and stiffness rarely begin in the joints alone. More often, inflammation, microbial imbalance, and oxidative stress are the hidden drivers.
For parents supporting children with autoimmune conditions, particularly alopecia, I’ll be sharing practical guidance and reassurance to make things feel clearer and less overwhelming. And on the professional side, I’m speaking at a pain management summit and teaching a CPD session for the Institute for Optimum Nutrition on arthritis, looking beyond the outdated idea of “wear and tear” to the deeper metabolic and immune mechanisms at play. I’ll be bringing all of that learning straight back into clinic and sharing it with you.
As always, my aim is simple: to make healing feel thoughtful, manageable, and rooted in what your body actually needs.
Slow and steady really does win the race.
If you’re managing autoimmune flares at the moment and would like a little extra support, comment AUTOIMMUNE RESET below and I’ll send you my free 5-day guide for calming inflammation and reversing flares gently.
I’d love to know what you’re focusing on this month too.
30/01/2026
Being featured in the print edition of Cosmopolitan this month to talk about how to be your own therapist felt surprisingly personal, because although the phrase sounds psychological, my own journey back to calm had very little to do with mindset at the beginning and everything to do with biology.
For years, I assumed anxiety was simply part of my personality. I was capable and driven, but always slightly wired underneath it all, as though my nervous system was permanently braced for impact. I slept lightly, overthought everything, and lived in that familiar “tired but alert” state so many women quietly normalise. I tried journaling, meditation, positive thinking — all helpful, but none of them truly touched the root.
What I didn’t understand then, but see clearly now in clinic every day, is that mental wellbeing is profoundly physiological.
Around 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut, not the brain, so when the gut is inflamed or out of balance, your stress tolerance shrinks and calm becomes harder to access. You can’t always think your way out of inflammation.
When I focused on healing my gut — repairing the lining, supporting my microbiome, stabilising blood sugar, and properly nourishing myself instead of running on caffeine and adrenaline — something shifted. I didn’t just digest better; I felt steadier, more resilient, and far less reactive. It was as though my nervous system finally exhaled.
That experience changed how I see mental health. Sometimes being your own therapist starts with food, sleep, light, minerals, and gut health. The mind absolutely matters too, of course, but the two work in harmony, and it’s far easier to shift your thoughts when your body feels safe. The mind follows the body more than we realise.
If you’d like some simple, science-backed ways I use in clinic to calm the nervous system, comment STRESS RESET and I’ll share them with you.
29/01/2026
I recorded a really lovely conversation recently with Holly Bertone for the podcast, and it’s one of those episodes that stayed with me long after we finished recording.
We were talking about emotional eating in midlife, and something kept coming up that I say to clients all the time: one of the most powerful things you can do for your health is to learn from your own body. Not from another diet plan or someone else’s rules, but from your own physiology.
After years of being told what we should eat, how we should look, and what we should tolerate, many women become disconnected from their internal cues. We override fatigue, ignore cravings, and push through symptoms, then feel frustrated when our body doesn’t “behave”. I did this myself for years when I was working in corporates while living with chronic fatigue.
But your body is always offering feedback, if you slow down enough to notice it.
In clinic, this is often where we start: simple observation. You might feel foggy after certain foods, notice itchy skin, or experience an energy dip mid-afternoon. Sometimes an old symptom flares the next day. These aren’t random inconveniences; they’re information. They’re clues about what nourishes you and what might be creating stress or inflammation.
That’s personalisation, and it’s far more effective than any one-size-fits-all approach.
It’s also why emotional eating deserves far more compassion than it gets. It’s rarely about willpower and much more often about hormones, blood sugar, stress, or simply feeling depleted. Reaching for comfort is physiology, not failure.
Holly brings such a grounded, thoughtful perspective to this conversation. We explore midlife changes, autoimmune health, and how to rebuild trust with your body so food becomes supportive rather than stressful.
🎙️ Why Midlife Triggers Emotional Eating: Holly Bertone on Hormones, Autoimmune Health & Food Freedom is live now on The Autoimmune RESET Podcast. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording it.
28/01/2026
Today is my Dad’s 70th birthday — which still feels slightly surreal to say out loud. In my head he’s permanently forty-something: strong, steady, capable. But I suppose that’s the strange thing about time… it moves whether we’re ready or not.
My Dad has been my rock for as long as I can remember, and I honestly dread to think where I’d be without him.
Big birthdays always invite reflection, and lately — as I support more parents whose children are living with alopecia — I’ve found myself thinking about the way he handled it when I was going through it myself.
He was always calm. Never panicked. He simply made me believe everything would be OK.
There was this quiet certainty that he’d be there, no matter what — and that kind of safety changed everything for me.
Even though it took me years to fully reverse my alopecia, I’m so grateful I never had to do it without his love and steadiness beside me.
Something else I’ve always admired is his work ethic and entrepreneurship. He’s built so much through hard work, resilience and integrity — and I really hope some of that has rubbed off on me. He’s also the most generous man, always giving his time and energy to others, which is why he’s loved by so many.
He’s achieved so much in his life, travelled the world many times over, and recently became Captain at Rudding Golf — a passion he only took up in his late 40s (proof it’s never too late to start something new).
Now, as he turns 70 (even though he still somehow seems more capable than I am most days!), I feel this gentle shift — a real desire to support him in the way he’s always supported me. It’s been so special hearing from close family and his oldest friends, sharing stories and memories that span decades. I’m glad he’s lived such a full life — and excited for all that’s still to come in the years ahead.
I love him more than words can say and feel so grateful for everything he’s given me.
Happy Birthday, Dad 💛
27/01/2026
When you start making changes for your health, it can very quickly begin to feel overwhelming. You tell yourself you shouldn’t be stressed because you’re doing all the right things, and then you end up stressed anyway because you’re not doing everything you said you would.
You set goals, you make plans, you promise yourself this is the week you’ll finally stay consistent… and then life happens. Work runs late, you’re tired, symptoms flare, or something unexpected crops up, and suddenly it feels like all your good work has been undone.
But the truth is, progress was never meant to come from perfection.
Healing rarely responds to intensity or all-or-nothing thinking. It comes from small, steady steps repeated over time. The more we try to optimise every detail or hold ourselves to impossible standards, the less sustainable it becomes, and the more likely we are to give up altogether.
I also know how tempting it is to research everything. To read every article, every forum, every opinion. Some of it can be helpful, of course, but too much information often just fuels anxiety. And recovery doesn’t happen when we’re in a constant state of hyper-vigilance. It happens when we feel safe, supported, patient, and at ease in our bodies.
I lived with pretty intense health anxiety for years, and if I’m honest, I still have a tendency towards it. I’ve simply learned that reading worst-case scenarios and overloading myself with information never helped me heal — it just kept my nervous system on high alert. What helped was consistency, self-trust, and focusing on what I could do each day rather than what I hadn’t done perfectly.
Having faith in the process, making nourishing choices, & staying flexible rather than rigid is so often what moves the needle most.
This is exactly what I’ll be talking about in a free live Q&A session later today inside the Autoimmune Forum, where we’ll focus on reducing overwhelm and building momentum in a way that actually feels sustainable.
When I work with clients, feedback isn’t just a nice extra — it’s part of the clinical process.
It’s how I refine.
How I improve.
How I make sure every plan feels truly personal rather than prescriptive.
Because health is never one-size-fits-all… especially when you’re dealing with autoimmunity.
That’s exactly why, at the start of this year, I reshaped how I offer my services and introduced new packages based on different levels of support and testing.
Some people need foundations.
Some need deeper investigation.
Some need detective work.
And increasingly, that detective work includes more advanced testing.
I’m really excited to now be offering a new generation of microbiome testing in clinic — the kind that gives us nuanced, actionable data rather than vague guesses.
But here’s what I always come back to…
When my clients see results (like Franca recently did), it’s rarely one magic supplement.
It’s the blend.
Diet.
Lifestyle.
Nervous system support.
And making sure their nutritional needs are genuinely met.
And yes — often food reactivity testing too.
It’s a topic that gets debated endlessly online.
But after years as both a clinician and scientist, and thousands of clients later, I care less about the noise and more about outcomes.
If something consistently helps people feel better, reduces symptoms, and moves the needle… that matters.
That’s why I use tools like the P88 Dietary Antigen Test — it looks beyond just IgG and also includes IgE and complement pathways, giving us a fuller picture of how the immune system is reacting, not just guessing.
More clarity.
Less trial and error.
Better results.
If you’re curious about food reactions or this type of testing, comment “food reactions” below and I’ll send you the details.
And as always — take your health one step at a time. If you’d like to work together, the application link is in my bio 💛
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to VJ Hamilton: The Autoimmunity Nutritionist:
I have always had a interest in health and nutrition which probably started when I was young as my Mum was conscious about eating healthy food and trained as a nurse when I was a child, so I was familiar with illness and disease, and the fact that a good diet and a healthy lifestyle could help support these conditions.
I went on to study a BSc Honours Degree in Biochemistry and Immunology where I focused my studies on Vasculitis, an autoimmune disease which affects the vessels in the body causing inflammation and systemic damage in the body – it’s a tragic condition and made my passion to help people live a healthier life more intent.
In my early twenties, my brother discovered after a short illness that he had Multiple Sclerosis – it was a scary time as a family, but luckily my previous studies helped us understand what this strange illness was and ways to try to manage the symptoms. 12 years on, my brother still struggles with his illness, but he has managed to stay strong both physically and mentally since his diagnosis and is an inspiration to me everyday.
I was then engulfed by the corporate world for the next 12 years, as a Chartered Accountant, but I always stayed in touch with the science and health industry attending events on autoimmune disease, cancer, heart health, medicinal mushrooms and many more…
Over the last couple of years I have rerouted my career and trained as a Nutritionist, Pilates instructor, and health writer – all the things I love.
I studied a DipION (diploma) in Nutritional Therapy at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in Richmond, London and I have completed the Comprehensive Pilates on the mat, reformer, ladder barrel, trapeze table and the Pilates chair at Polestar Pilates. I also write articles for Thrive Magazine on a regular basis as well as being a part of their team as a Thrive Expert. And I am a Dnalife Practitioner which gives me the tools to understand someone’s underlying genetic profile and the interactions these have with the environment (epigenetics).
Health, Nutrition and Humanity
My aim is to try and find solutions for those suffering with health issues, with a particular focus on autoimmune conditions, but so many illnesses including blood sugar regulation, weight management, gut issues and circulation have similar underlying causes. I would like to provide information, aspirations and other options to those who are not at their best – we can achieve better health with improvements to our diet and lifestyle, we just need to change our priorities and often perspective with some advice and coaching, we can all get there.
I also believe in movement, core stability and body alignment to help our bodies function properly which is so often overlooked. Our body is an energy system, communicating through nerve signals, so we need to ensure our pathways are free and aligned, and that our muscles are apportioned to support our skeletal system so that our bones stay strong and our nerves stay comfortable.
With an integrated health solution you can be the person you were meant to be in life – and my hope is to help those who are struggling get to where they would like to be in life whilst enjoying the experience of getting there.
