I believe that constipation is reversible, medical doctors don’t receive enough nutrition training and that the statement, “there’s nothing I can do for you” is an answer that no one should have to hear from their practitioner.
My approach to motility and constipation is against the grain and evidence based. If you’re ready for something different that feels right at your core, then I’m glad to have you here.
I’m Roslyn
Gut health expert, Registered Holistic Nutritionist and founder at Plants First Nutrition.
you're here because
My job is to help you get there.
I’m nowhere near perfect. In fact, I break my own rules from time to time. Why? Because that’s life, and the whole goal of my practice is to get you to a point where you have a framework in place that allows you to feel like your best, most energetic self, but also allows you some flexibility. And if we’re being honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that we all need a little more balance in our lives so we can actually, you know, live.
A glass of wine, take out for dinner, (dairy free) ice cream with friends, fast food on the road. None of it should feel punishing, and none of it should make you feel guilty or in physical pain. It’s about what you do consistently, not occasionally. Remember that.
I am not a perfect nutritionist.
Let me be clear about one thing right off the bat
I was under a significant amount of stress: university applications were due, I was hoping to land multiple scholarships due to financial stress, I would be leaving behind a world of familiarity and comfort, and my family life was in shambles. To put it bluntly, I was burnt out, overwhelmed, and was even dealing with minor disordered eating.
At the time, I was following your average western diet consisting of meat, dairy, eggs, seafood, refined carbohydrates, processed foods, and everything in between. I ate white toast and eggs for breakfast, turkey sandwiches for lunch, saltine crackers with cheese for a snack, and creamy pasta for dinner.
I ate the way my family did, but I never stopped to question whether what I was eating was helping or hindering my motility and gut health. And my symptoms were not letting me go about life easily.
GRADE 12 TO BE EXACT
It all started in high school.
More often than I’d like to admit, to be honest. I don’t think there was a single day where I wasn’t uncomfortable after eating. Bloating, constipation, diarrhea, constant gas, and abdominal cramping. These were just some of the symptoms I experienced daily. Practitioners used to tell me that I was worrying myself sick, and sadly, I believed them.
My life was different because of my symptoms. I said no to a lot of foods, I was always worried about where the closest toilet was, and I was often forced to leave social gatherings early because I was wildly uncomfortable. I had lost all control of my body and any sense of normalcy. I felt like my symptoms dictated where I was able to go, who I was able to spend time with, and what I was able to do. I was rarely present in my own life.
After hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars of researching and seeking out help I had learned:
* I had IBS—a diagnosis of exclusion
* I needed to reduce my stress—no information on how to do so
* There is no cure for IBS, except managing stress
* Switching to lactose free dairy products may help
* Taking a fibre supplement (Metamucil) may help
* Trying medications may help—I denied them
* I needed to take an expensive probiotic that a practitioner was paid to sell me
Out of all of the practitioners I had seen, including nutritionists, naturopaths, dieticians, therapists, homeopaths, and a GI specialist, not one mentioned the microbiome OR motility. How could all of these practitioners, who were supposed to be experts, leave out the most important components of any gut healing journey?
I was always in pain. . .
- I had IBS—a catch all for the symptoms I was experiencing
- I needed to reduce my stress—no information on how to do so
- There's no cure for IBS, except cutting out foods to avoid symptoms
- Switching to lactose free dairy products "may help"
- Taking Metamucil and Miralax "may help"
- Trying medications may help—I denied them
- I would need to manage my symptoms & watch what I eat the rest of my life
even though. . .
That GI specialists get next to zero training in nutrition. I understand that my symptoms were absolutely not in my head, nor my fault. I understand that IBS is a blanket solution, given to those who experience unexplained inflammation in the gut as well as an imbalance of bacteria in their microbiome, resulting in harsh GI symptoms such as bloating, gas, constipation and diarrhea.
I understand what parts of my health history, diet, and lifestyle brought me here. I understand that I have the power and the tools to take control of my personal health, and the health of countless other women who are in the same boat: through up-to-date nutrition research, simple diet strategies, approachable lifestyle habits, and evidence based supplements and herbs. I understand that it’s not just my passion, but my purpose to do so.
Today, I understand
At the time, I was baffled & angry, but
And even though I was failed by conventional health care (there were multiple practitioners involved in my journey beyond GI specialists) and neglected the information I needed to reach optimal health for over 10 years, that doesn’t mean you have to take that same path, too.
In fact, I feel as though it’s my life's purpose to stop this mad circle of confusion, pain, and frustration—a circle that far too many women end up in—and revolutionize the way we understand poor microbiome and motility health and the physical, emotional, and mental pain that goes along with it.
I have over 600 hours of nutrition training to date, and I continue to expand this knowledge on a daily basis so I can better serve my clients in eradicating the uncertainty surrounding their constipation. I actively seek out up-to-date nutrition and microbiome research so I can separate fact from fiction, fad from effective solution.
Everything I went through—all of the evenings spent curled up in a ball on my bed in severe pain, all of the doctors visits, all of the emergency toilet visits, all of the outfit changes to find clothes that fit, all of the guilt and shame as a result of believing that I was worrying myself sick, all of the expensive supplements, all of the Dr. Google searches, and all of the stress from living with such an ambiguous diagnosis—could have been prevented had I known what I know today about the microbiome and motility. All of it. And the same is true for you, too.
If you’ve had enough of the pain, the unexplained symptoms, the wishy washy diagnoses, the expensive (and not evidence based) testing, the food restrictions, and the lack clarity and too-cause solutions, then you’ve come to the right place and I’m so stoked you’ve found me 🥹.
Today, I’m on a mission to help women who have been failed by conventional medicine take control of their motility and constipation at a microbiome level so they can get their life back and level up from their comfort zone of discomfort.
27
Drank a cup of coffee
Buying myself flowers
Backcountry skiing
The mountains
Squamish, BC
Favourite place:
Couldn’t live without:
Current hobby:
Obsessed with:
Never have I ever:
Countries traveled to:
not about
Elimination diets, supplement lists, the low FODMAP diet, GI Map or food sensitivity testing, people who want overnight results, working harder
I'm NOT about
all about
Following the science, achieving balance, resting more, trusting the process, nature as therapy, and guiding women out of their comfort zone of discomfort
