Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Richter.
Hi Melanie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My first conscious and mindful memories of IBS began in college in 2006. I traveled across the country from Palm Springs, California to attend the University of Georgia. A classic undergrad, I began indulging in the worst form of the American diet you can imagine: fried everything (including my veggies), beer ten days a week, all while becoming practically sedentary (which was a huge change for a previously competitive athlete). I cycled between days of constant diarrhea and then consecutive days of constipation. But with the stress of college and my naivety around food, I couldn’t be bothered to figure out what my problem was. (If I’d only known what was coming for me!)
I moved to Los Angeles after graduation, and my symptoms somewhat normalized (but only temporarily); I had started eating more vegetables, drinking less alcohol and incorporating a hike several times a week. But my digestive woes came back with vengeance when I met and started dating someone new. The date nights with mega-meals and constant indulgences took its toll. I spent the better part of the next two years with not a single solid bowel movement, constant bloating, irregular periods, wicked mood swings, and about 25 pounds of inflammatory weight I couldn’t shake.
It felt like everything I ate caused adverse symptoms, which felt incredibly discouraging. In an attempt to fix my issues, I made appointments with every Western doctor in town (allergists, gastroenterologists, GPs, you name it) complaining of my symptoms and issues. I was given essentially the same response each and every time: “Everything looks fine, but you have IBS. This is just your new normal.” I found myself slowly entering a low-grade depressive state, which (surprise!) made me want to eat more. It was a vicious cycle, and I felt hopeless.
Finally, I hit my rock bottom in the spring of 2015. I was casually walking across the street after having picked up some take-out lunch when my bowels lost all control. Without any warning, I had diarrhea right there, fully public, fully clothed, in the middle of a busy and crowded street. It was a real-life version of the scene from Bridesmaids, except it was anything but funny. As an independent adult and small business owner who was making the best money I had ever made at the time, I had never felt so small or so mortified.
Despite this catastrophically embarrassing event, something inside me caught fire – I had had enough. I knew deep down inside that this was far from “normal,” and so I took matters into my own hands. Not knowing where to look at first, I found a testing center out of Italy that claimed to have very sensitive food intolerance testing panel. The results of that initial test helped me refine my diet and improve my symptoms about 70% which was a huge relief for as bad of shape as I was in. This was the first time in nearly a decade that I caught a glimpse of what “normal” could be like, so my search to have it 100% of the time became my personal mission.
With divine guidance, I found a Naturopathic Doctor in El Segundo ran much more sophisticated testing and began putting my unique pieces together. We began overhauling my diet once again, this time through an intensive elimination diet. Slowly but surely, I became whole again. My bowels started to normalize, my moods became more stable, my periods regulated over time, and those 25 pounds of inflammation melted off of me like ice cream in the desert sun.
Now I want to contextualize one important point of my journey: yes, my college years were far from healthy. I knew it, my family knew it, everyone knew it. But, when I moved back to Los Angeles, and even during the period of my relationship when I was eating far more than I should for my size, frame and activity level, my diet seemed healthy from a conventional standpoint. I was eating veggies, I was drinking juices and smoothies, I was cooking at home several times a week, and I was working out. From an outsider’s perspective (outside of the sheer mass quantity of food I was eating), I was eating fairly healthfully. It turns out, though, that I wasn’t eating the right foods for my body. Through my journey, I uncovered a fairly severe sensitivity to dairy and cane sugar. I was eating both of these things at nearly every meal for as long as I could remember. So even though Greek yogurt, some cheeses and Kefir can be healthy for some people, they absolutely were not for me.
I realized recently, in a conversation with my sister, that as pre-teen, I was known to be incredibly moody. I could get angry at the drop of a hat, and on top of that, I had terrible acne (something that certainly shaped a lot of my self-confidence at the time). Looking back at my childhood diet which was filled with refined sugar (ice cream, cookies, cinnamon rolls, breakfast cereals, chocolate milk, candy…you name it), it’s no wonder that my moods were so erratic. It’s also no wonder my hormones were off the rails and, as a result, my skin health too.
You might be surprised to know that I had already had a long-brewing interest in nutrition since I was in elementary school. But this decade of digestive hell catapulted my passion for it. I decided to shut down my PR business in 2016 in order to go back to school for my Master’s in Nutrition and to become a Registered Dietitian. During this time, I dove even deeper into my personal food journey and expanded my knowledge to reach far beyond anything I had ever imagined.
It was during my Master’s program that my path synchronistically aligned with a wholistic Dietitian who took me on as a mentee in her functional practice. She opened my eyes to the world of Eastern medicine – homeopathy, energetic nutrition, as well as the emotional and spiritual components of being human and living in a human body. She brought a beautiful vision to the feelings I had in my heart for so long about what I wanted to do and the impact I wanted to have on my patients and my community. And from this point on, my personal health and healing journey as well as my professional practice have comprised the whole spectrum of the human experience. We are, after all, living in a human body. In order to make the most of our gifts and talents during this life, we must also learn how to work within the confines of our human body and everything that comes along with that.
It is absolutely possible to feel great all the time, and there is hope for everyone and whatever symptoms (mild or severe) that you may be experiencing. Nutrition is the first step in managing so many mind and body-related issues, and it’s the key that will help you unlock the door to a more health-filled life.
However, every person and everybody is different. There is no one food or one “diet” that will work for everyone. What works for me or for your friend may not work for you. My work is dedicated to helping my patients uncover their personal balance in nutrition so that they can better understand how to eat for their unique body and how to eat for their whole lives, not just when they want to “diet.” Not to mention, in doing this, I help my patients reclaim their power. There is a deep healing – emotionally, mentally and physically – that comes along with finding your specific nutritional equilibrium and using food to heal yourself at a cellular level. I believe that in doing so, you will learn to love your body exactly as it is today. And with that power, you will find the confidence and wisdom to call the shots in your life. With that power, you will begin to wake up to your true, authentic path in life where you are free to share your gifts, love yourself and others, share with others and be joy-filled, well, and balanced.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Very few roads are ever smooth. After all, it’s in the bumps and potholes and curves of the road that we usually find our strength and power. I hope no road is ever too smooth!
As I explained in my own personal journey, the road has been far from smooth, and I’m grateful for that. While Western medicine has an important role to play in our society, especially in acute care situations (as we are seeing with COVID-19, for instance), it still struggles significantly to help people with chronic conditions – conditions that are relatively new (within the past century) to humans.
I have come to realize in my own journey and my journey to becoming a well-rounded wholistic practitioner that the nature of our food production and supply which has been depleting nutrients from soil – and therefore from our food – for decades, as well as then expectations Western societies have on constantly producing and “succeeding” in our culturally very linear idea of success, we have become sicker and more inflamed and more unhappy. And when you try to treat a systemic and chronic health issue like autoimmune conditions or depression or gastrointestinal problems, for instance, using Western modalities, you are not only adding fuel to the fire, but you are bypassing 90% of the other reasons why a person becomes sick in the first place. Childhood and adulthood traumas, food sensitives, the quality of our relationships to friends and family, the quality and availability of food where we live, the strength of our self-efficacy and self-confidence, as well as the quality of the air we breathe and water we drink in the neighborhoods we live… these all must be explored and investigated and heard as active components to our health.
My mission as a wholistic practitioner is to help address every inch of a person’s life and experience to help them put the unique puzzle pieces together so that they feel better and stronger within their physical body, first and foremost, so that they can then explore the emotional, mental and spiritual components of their human experience, too. And when we are able to face those parts of ourselves, we are even more equipped to give and show unconditional love, as well as the unique gifts we came to share, too.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Wholistic Ritual?
Wholistic Ritual is my private practice. While personalized and functional nutrition therapy and nutrition education is the cornerstone of all the work I do with patients, it is only one component of what we actively work on together. My practice emphasizes the healing and balancing of all four of our bodies: the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
When working with the physical body, nutrition is the primary component. Although, depending on my patients, specialized gastrointestinal and environmental toxin testing is required. These tests could include food sensitivity testing, Organic Acid Testing as well as mycotoxin testing (which tests for things like mold or heavy metals, for example). It’s important to fully understand what is happening inside the body to better decide which healing protocol to pursue. Sometimes this includes food only. Other times, a combination of supplementation, herbs, and homeopathy are required.
I specialize in working with patients with gastrointestinal disorders (IBS, IBD, Chron’s, GERD, etc.). I also work with autoimmune patients and patients experiencing anxiety, depression and disordered eating.
I am known for my unique approach to my nutrition, but I am also sought after for my alternative therapies including sound healing which I’ll perform for individuals during sessions or in groups. I also utilize a therapy called mudpacking, which is ideal for patients who have had physical traumas (surgeries, accidents, etc.) to help restore nerve and energy flow throughout the body. I utilize sea matter and mud as well as the acupuncture points on the body to identify which areas to treat and focus on. This is a relaxing experience for patients and often helps to expedite healing and/or restore energy to old, latent physical traumas.
While the physical body is being addressed, we will also take a deep dive into food habits, food stigmas and any traumas relating to the body and/or food. I may “prescribe” certain daily activities to help people strengthen their self-efficacy and to restore their relationship to food itself.
I am most proud of two things about my practice. The first are the interpersonal relationships I forge with my patients. When a patient works with me, I become one of their most potent health advocates and a health partner for life, even if you don’t need or see me all the time. My patients are like family to me, and I treat everyone I work with that way. I pride myself on providing a safe space for people to explore themselves my intimately.
The second is that I am helping to usher in a new path of preventive healthcare that focus on the intangibles of health – emotional, mental and spiritual. I am helping people awaken more deeply to the human experience and helping them to find freedom within themselves to live unburdened by the weight of whatever loads they have or are carrying.
I’d like readers to know that I am an alternative and wholistic practitioner that pays just as close attention to your emotional and mental wellbeing as I do with your physical healing. We will walk the health and healing journey together. The work done in my practice and the wholistic rituals we were create together will impact how you eat, see and experience yourself and how you feel in general for the rest of your life.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success in my practice means helping my patients feel empowered, loved, heard and supported. When my patients start feeling better, they start seeing me less and less. And that’s the goal. I will always be resource for my patients, but my goal of success is to give them the tools they need and the steady foundation they require to go out into the world and feel confident navigating it for themselves. When rocky patches pops up (which they usually do), I help them to recalibrate so that they can go back out and live, love and experience again.
Pricing:
- Initial Consult (Required Appointment) – $275
- One-off follow-ups: $185
- Package of 3 follow-ups (when purchased together): $470
- Package of 5 follow-ups (when purchased together): $740
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.melaniemurphyrd.com
- Instagram: @healthnmellness
- Facebook: Melanie Murphy Richter RD
- Twitter: @healthnmellness
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHFkScX9GlujMV_e7A0VviA
Image Credits:
Karl Richter, Cynical Smile Director and Cinematographer @cynical_smiling [email protected]
