Jennifer Shields is an Advance Practice Registered Nurse, Wellness Mentor, and Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner who is committed to lifelong learning. She has a special interest in using “food as medicine” to prevent and even reverse chronic diseases, spending much of her free time learning from world renowned lifestyle medicine physicians and entities. She has gained a wealth of information on reducing cancer risk through lifestyle changes. Additionally, she has a passion for educating others about poly-pharmacy and assisting with de-prescribing in the aging population. She enjoys researching current health topics such as the gut microbiome, “leaky gut”, the brain/gut axis and creating the optimal environment for the body to heal itself. She has studied the literature regarding the effects of toxic environmental chemicals in our foods, food packaging, water supply, cleaners, cosmetics and even drugs and supplements, which has led her to take somewhat of a “purist” approach to health care. While she believes there is certainly still a place for modern medicine and that most health care providers want to help, she is disenchanted with the current state of our (“corporate”) healthcare system where there are extreme time limits on the patient visit causing health care providers to write more prescriptions, order expensive tests and make the patient feel like just a number. Jennifer wants to change that by empowering her patients to take back control over their own health and to be better self-advocates when the need arises to see their doctors. Her professional education includes a Master of Science in Nursing with Board Certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner and over 35 years experience in healthcare. Jennifer advocates for restoring “caring” to healthcare, offering natural, non-invasive programs for gaining and preserving wellness through broad lifestyle enrichment rather than “treating” or “managing” disease. She believes in targeting the underlying cause of illness rather than using the “band-aid” approach.
