Registered Dietitian – Dianne Rishikof

I have been struggling with my own digestive issues for most of my life. When I was 17, I began to experience chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, fevers, and extreme fatigue. After months of fear, I went to a doctor who diagnosed me with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s is an autoimmune disease—my immune system was attacking my own small intestine. The main conventional medical treatment is to use medication to lessen the inflammation. Over the next 20 years I tried every medication the doctor gave me. I was desperate to feel better and trusted the medical establishment…perhaps that’s familiar to you? I asked about diet or other influences on Crohn’s, and got nothing helpful. I quickly found that doctors knew very little about nutrition and most of them did not value its contribution to health and its impact on illness (you’ve likely discovered this yourself). This fueled my decision to become a nutritionist. Conventional nutrition is great for knowing what to eat so we don’t make the Crohn’s symptoms worse, and for nourishing the body, which is extremely important in dealing with this disease. But that’s about where the helpfulness stops.

During these past 20 years, I was in and out of remission. I went to college, worked, got married, went to graduate school, opened my business, and had two kids. After I gave birth to my second child, no medicine would keep my Crohn’s in remission, and I had to have surgery. The diseased part of my ileum was removed, and the intestines that remained were all healthy! Yay! But while I was in the hospital, I contracted C-diff (Clostridium difficile, a horrible bacterial infection). While the infection eventually cleared up, post-infectious IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) remained. The experience left my intestines a mess. There was nothing ‘wrong’ with them by conventional medical standards—I was disease free, but I proceeded to deal with gluten sensitivity, leaky gut, lactose intolerance, fructose intolerance, IBS, and SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Translation: I dealt with horrible reactions to foods, diarrhea, bloating, fatigue, and so on.

The conventional doctors had NO help for me. THAT’S when I decided that doctors must be wrong (I had until then trusted that they were Gods). I set out to find an answer. That’s when I discovered functional medicine/nutrition. It was the answer I was looking for!

The functional approach is to look at the root causes of things and to resolve the problem, not just manage symptoms. I learned about the microbiome and how essential a role it plays in EVERYTHING, and its specific role in gut disorders. I learned about the integrity of the intestinal lining and the effects of damage to it. I learned how to use diet and supplements to positively influence the microbiome and the gut lining. Now, these were things that no doctor ever mentioned. Oh, if only I had found functional medicine/nutrition sooner!!!

For years, I would be mistaken as pregnant due to my stomach being swollen. When I desperately asked doctors why I was so distended, they would just reply “it happens with Crohn’s disease, we don’t know why.” Well, now I know exactly why—because of my gut bacteria! I had too much, the wrong kind, it was in the wrong place, and the food I was eating was making it worse. I now know why I was so tired. More importantly, I have worked to resolve it at the root cause. I now can eat foods that I used to not be able to go near. I now can go through a day full of activity without getting tired or needing to rest. I now can go about my life without running to the bathroom! Now that I know what’s possible, I can’t believe how much time I spent un-well, when I was just resolved that ‘that was the way it was.’ Don’t do that to yourself.

With my extensive personal experience, as well as my professional training, I have so much knowledge now that really could have helped me back then. I also know that functional nutrition can help so many other ailments. I have so much knowledge now that can help so many people with so many health struggles, and I feel compelled to bring this help to you.

All of my clients say the same things: their doctor doesn’t believe diet matters; their doctor doesn’t listen to their suffering because there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with them; their doctor says there is no treatment for their symptoms, or their doctor gives them 5 different prescriptions—one for each symptom—with no regard to what is CAUSING the symptoms. All that is ridiculous and it makes my blood boil. There are root causes that can be discovered. There are so many options for treatment that don’t involve prescriptions which only clear the smoke while the fire burns on.

I can talk to you as a fellow sufferer. Let me show you how to get well.