- clinic
- January 21, 2017
- 9164
Dysautonomia Clinic is happy to provide additional services that benefit our patients with dysautonomia and other chronic illnesses. Proper nutrition plays a key role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and improving symptoms and well-being in patients with chronic illness. Currently, numerous diets are being promoted, from gluten-free to low-histamine to low-carb to ketogenic. How to make sense of it all? What diet would work best for you, given your own unique set of conditions and food sensitivities? This is why Jill Brook, MA, an experienced nutritionist and POTS patients, has joined our clinic and is ready to offer her professional and personal expertise by providing nutrition consultations to our patients.
Ms. Brook has been a nutritionist in California for 25 years and a POTS patient for 20. She is active in the dysautonomia community, volunteering with several advocacy groups, co-authoring several published articles about POTS and designing mobile apps for patients. We share a bit of her background here, as well as information about her nutrition services.
Jill Brook, MA
Ms. Brook grew up in Madison Wisconsin, graduated from Princeton University, then attended UCLA for a PhD program in research psychology and statistics. That is where in 1997 POTS set in. She mistook her frequent passing out in class as a lack of interest, and left with a Master’s degree to pursue her passion in nutrition. She worked as a nutrition researcher at the Pritikin Longevity Center and UCLA, eventually serving as their nutritionist. For 15 years Jill had a private nutrition practice in Pasadena, California, counseling individuals and consulting for groups including Caltech, Disney, and NBC’s Today Show. She authored books, trained nutrition counselors internationally, and won awards for providing outstanding nutrition services, however POTS progressed and she eventually had to move to a cooler climate. She spent several years homebound, struggling with many common aspects of dysautonomia, all the while studying nutrition science for more ways to feel better. Happily, after a 16-year diagnostic delay and 3 years of trying various treatments, she is back on her feet and feeling much better. She has a deep appreciation for the wide variety of challenges patients face, and always listens carefully to make sure she understands each patient, so that she can most improve their unique situation. When not scouring the latest nutrition research for practical solutions to live better, Ms. Brook volunteers as a statistician and research assistant to help dysautonomia research progress faster. She lives in northern California and Alaska, with her husband and dogs.
Nutrition Consultations
At Dysautonomia Clinic, our nutrition consultations consist of a 60-minute phone or video consultation for new patients, after which you will receive a detailed written summary with an individualized nutrition plan, as well as helpful resources. The cost of the initial 60-min consultation is $150, with a 30-min follow-up consultations of $100. Request your appointment by emailing to admin@amherstneurology.com.
Consultations focus on finding practical ways to make the patient’s life better. Examples of topics include improving energy, mood, pain, sleep, strength, digestion, MCAS/histamine reactions, weight, blood pressure, gut health, inflammation, immunity/autoimmunity, or logistical challenges, such as how to prepare meals when you can’t tolerate heat or standing.
Consultations can also address willpower tactics, because knowing how to eat better doesn’t necessarily help you do it!
The majority of the consultation is spent discussing your goals, challenges, what you’ve tried in the past, and what are your best next steps. Ms. Brook will help you design a realistic game plan that often involves a series of self-experiments to help you find what works best for you. While Ms. Brook can offer expertise on what nutrition science says about your issues, you are the expert on your own body, and will likely need to use some trial and error to determine your best solutions. We look forward to working with you and improving your health and well-being through proper nutrition!