When it comes to health and wellness eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds using all colours of the rainbow is important to get a well balanced diet of micro nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Many people eat animal products as they think they need that for protein, but that’s actually not scientifically valid as all protein originally comes from plants, given you need nitrogen from the air to create amino acids. Animal protein is more bio-available in terms of uptake, however it can cause acidity which creates inflammation and leads to chronic illness.
In British Columbia we have the highest per capita vegans of anywhere on earth and more and more people are trying to have a plant dominant diet, which is both healthy and good for the environment. In this article we get to chat with Roslyn Kent who owns and operates Plants First Holistic Nutrition to get to know her better and how she works with the community to guide you on a journey of self love through quality eating habits.
How did you get started with your nutrition business and what do you like about operating in North Vancouver?
It all started back in 2012 when I was diagnosed with IBS. I was so frustrated, because my doctor had no answers for me on how to manage it. The pain was constant and debilitating, and I was so fed up with missing out on normal activities all my friends got to take part in. A lot of people laugh at IBS and think it’s just this joke diagnosis—really though, most people who live with it can’t function normally and have to miss out on work, school, etc. because their symptoms are so bad.
A couple years later I saw a gastroenterologist (specialist doctor) and again, left his office with zero understanding on how to manage my symptoms and get the relief I needed. I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Fast forward 6 years, and I enrolled at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition to become a Holistic Nutritionist. I learned things that my GI specialists couldn’t and didn’t explain to me, and finally, I had the tools and knowledge I needed to get my life back. 500+ hours of nutrition training, countless hours of personal research, and endless experimentation with diets and therapeudic foods, I’m now confident in saying that I’m symptom free and helping other women say the same.
I work with women who are struggling with gut health imbalances and related symptoms, and feel failed by conventional health care. I help them conquer their symptoms and get back to the activities they love, finding balance along the way. I love living and working in North Vancouver because my work and my lifestyle mesh so well. North Vancouver is such a small community when you really boil it down, and the people who surround me live and breathe the same values I have for health, wellness, and outdoor recreation. Not to mention, I was born and raised here! I’ve lived in a few different places, but ultimately, North Vancouver is home!
What are the services and coaching tips that you offer to your clients?
I offer 1:1 and group nutrition consulting to women struggling with IBS and similar gut health imbalances. My 1:1 services include individual consultation sessions, meal plans, and personalized recommendations for diet, lifestyle, and supplements. I love working with women in a 1:1 setting, but I’m even more passionate about my 12-month group program, The Plant Powered Gut Academy, as this is where I see lasting transformation in my clients. The program is aimed at taking women through a systematic, 360 degree process of transitioning to a whole food plant based diet when conventional medicine has failed them and they’ve tried everything else to address their symptoms. This could include the low FODMAP diet, GI specialist visits, the paleo diet, fibre supplements, etc. My role in this program is to coach these women through all the necessary steps in taking control of their health and eliminating their symptoms for good with the help of evidence based, plant based nutrition strategies that truly work. I work with clients all around the world, and find that the online group setting allows me to have weekly touch points that actually create sustainable change. To learn more about the The Plant Powered Gut Academy, you can head to my website at Plantsfirst.ca.
If our readers want to work with you to get their bodies back into homeostasis what is the best way for them to do so?
They can email me directly at roslyn@plantsfirst.ca to book a discovery call: a free 15 minute conversation where we’ll go over their health history and health concerns to determine a unique strategy that will facilitate lasting change. They can also join my free Facebook community: The Plant Based Solution where I share weekly live videos, resources, guides, and daily tips that will help them get closer to being symptom free. From there, they can get a taste of what it might be like to work with me and first handedly experience the values that underpin my entire practice.
Before operating your local nutrition business what were you doing for work or a career?
I’ve bounced around a lot in the last 5 years! Before reaching the point I’m at now, I was working 9-5 at a *very* corporate office job in real estate development in marketing, I worked in tech sales for a short stint, and a classic marketing agency prior to that! Currently, besides nutrition, I work as an online health coach at 8020 Plants, and as a recipe developer and photographer at Piquant Marketing! Both incredible, plant based companies.
Outside of operating your business what do you get up to for activities in your personal time?
Whenever I’m not working with clients, you can find me in the mountains! I’m big into back country ski touring and mountain biking. I also really enjoy camping, road biking, and brewery hopping in my neighbourhood of Lower Lonsdale!
Lastly, is there anything else you might want our readers to know about you or your business?
I’ve spent the last 12 years on a very long, tiring journey to optimal gut health, and I’m so thankful that I found my answers in evidence based, plant based nutrition. I work with a lot of women who are plant-based, but that doesn’t mean you have to be following a plant based diet in order to work with me! Whatever stage you’re at now, there’s no judgment; only encouragement and support as I help you take the leap toward some of the most long lasting and impactful decisions you will ever make for the health of your microbiome. Health is a marathon, not a sprint!
For more information and to take advantage of your free intake consultation you can visit her website and connect on social media apps using Instagram and Facebook.
