by Kylie McCarthy, Nutritionist Recently I received a telephone call from Gail, distressed for her son Phil. Since Phil was 8 years old, he had suffered from breakouts all over his body that Gail described as ringworm and eczema, occurring during the winter months, only to clear up over the summer leaving white marks all over his skin. Over the years, Gail had taken her son to countless skin specialists, iridologists and doctors, trying countless creams and anti-biotics, only to have her Phil's skin irritations reoccur every winter.  In fact, as he was getting older, acne was also starting to manifest increasingly - to the point that Phil was becoming reclusive and self conscious, with eventual sleep disturbances, constantly waking at around 1am. Upon consultation, it seemed that physically, Phil was a healthy young man - exercising 4-6 times a week, and working a job that also kept him physically active.  Due to his acne, Phil tried to steer clear of junk foods, yet continued to gain weight around his abdominal area. Phil's intake of grains may not have seemed particularly excessive to most, however his diet was totally based around grains - he started his day on wheat, had wheat with his lunch, snacks throughout the day that were all wheat based and also ate snacks after dinner that consisted of wheat. Being a young man in his 20's, Phil did enjoy an alcoholic beverage. Some people refer to beer as liquid gold, however in the eyes of a Nutritionist - beer and wine are really just liquid bread - fluid sugar! Phil also noted that he suffered continued fungal infections. Phil had taken anti-biotics for years and lacked time in the sun, he didn't get to the ocean or eat any Omega 3 oils. Phil also made note that he was tired a lot of the time and, considering he is a young man, I found his fatigue to be worth investigating further, focusing on a lack of digestive function. I did what I would do for most clients and began work on Phil's liver function and gastro intestinal health. Phil was able to provide me with particular blood tests upon request. Phil's test results showed he was lacking in particular vitamins and minerals that are required to support his immune system, his blood ferritin and iron saturation were also extremely low.The rest of Phil's FBC Haematology, liver and kidney enzymes came back within normal limits, as did his cholesterol. I received some emails from Phil soon after beginning my recommendations (see below in italics) July 10 : Started the gluten free diet last week and feeling good already. On August 30th Phil got his genotype test results, back - testing him for gluten intolerance. His doctor told him his results came back as negative. Regardless of this negative test result, Phil has already stated that he feels improvements in his wellbeing, which includes an improvement in energy levels. Sept 1 : Just to touch base here, all is going well.  Feeling soo much better after just finishing my first round of all the products.  My sores and skin has cleared up dramatically, big improvement. Sept 2 : I'm feeling much happier about myself, seeing improvements each day really helps.  Sleeping a lot better too, not waking up so much during the night, also I have a lot more energy during the day now too. If you would like to organize a consultation with Kylie McCarthy, our nutritionist who helped Phil, please send her an email