21/02/2026
2 days in a row now, different women, different conversations…
and the same words.
“How are you not working inside the NHS?”
“Your knowledge just flows.”
This evening I had the privilege of speaking with an incredible young woman, bright, thoughtful, proactive and wanting to understand her body properly, as she navigates here way through postpartum thyroiditis, with heart rate spikes, brittle hair, pains between her shoulder blades, and symptoms being exacerbated during the luteal phase of her menstrual cycle.
We spoke about her symptoms, her blood test results, her stress load, her sleep, her hormones, her gut test results, and her immune function, not in isolation, but as a system, and we discussed which tests I would recommend.
But what struck me most was not her symptoms, it was her mindset.
Before we had even spoke, she had already advocated fiercely for her young son. He had ongoing constipation. She was advised Movicol. When it didn’t work, she was told to increase the dose, it still didn’t work, so the was told to then increase it again.
Instead of accepting that as the only option, she researched, questioned, and looked at long term implications, and then she tried something beautifully simple.
One kiwi before bed!
It worked, and that is not about rejecting medicine, it’s is about asking why, and that is root cause thinking.
When we spoke about her health, we did the same, and at the end of our conversation she said something that stopped me.
She said ‘your knowledge just flows’.
The truth is, it flows because I’ve spent years studying what often sits outside the standard appointment window.
🌿A Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Medicine.
🌿Training with the Institute for Functional Medicine.
🌿Postgraduate oncology training.
🌿13 years in clinical practice.
🌿Thousands of blood markers reviewed.
🌿Letters written to GPs and consultants to request the right investigations (100% success rate).
I work alongside the NHS, not against it, but I have the time to look deeper, and when it comes to your health, that matters because:
* People do not want quick answers.
* They want coherent answers.
* They want to feel heard.
* They want someone to join the dots.
When women tell me, “Why aren’t you in the NHS?”, I take it as a compliment, but what it really tells me is this:
There is a huge hunger for personalised, root-cause, evidence-based care, and that is exactly why I do what I do.
If you are struggling with your health and would like me to help you investigate and address the root causes of your symptoms, before they spiral, and to improve your quality of life, feel free to send me a DM or book your free 20 minute cal by clicking on the link to my website:
www.helenperks.com
Helen Perks BSc.
The Cancer Nutritionist
BSc Nutritional Medicine | Registered Nutritional Therapist| mBANT | rCNHC | Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner AFMCP Graduate | Systems Approach to Cancer (SATC)
📩 info@helenperks.com
🌐 www.helenperks.com
🍲Nourishing Soups by The Cancer Nutritionist
RESPECT® Your Future by Nourishing Today
