Rose Marie Randall
Rose Marie Randall, CNP, Author
Graduation Date: February 2003
What brought me to IHN
I found myself entering Turquoise Wholistic (then called Homelife Remedies) in Markham for the first time to purchase some supplements recommended by IHN graduate and practicing nutritionist Marlene Marshall. I took a few steps into the little shop, whose air was filled with gentle light, healing music, and the soft fragrance of some essential oil, and I felt I was coming home. I had finally found the answer to a long-standing question: what kind of work could I do that would help instead of exploit people and the environment, and where my own health journey could have relevance and meaning in helping others.
I was determined to do whatever I could to work in an environment like that. I knew the first step, if I was really serious, was to get a formal nutritional education, so that I could confidently provide people with the best guidance possible. After working for a year at another job to save money for school, my determination was still strong; I enrolled at IHN and embarked upon my studies intensely, with the hopes of working in that little store planted firmly in my mind all the while.
But my IHN experience turned out to be so much more than just a means to an end. The program repeatedly filled me with wonder and amazement about the worlds inside us and around us, and how intimately the two are connected. It challenged me to look at my own health issues, both physical and emotional, the importance of which I cannot stress enough. These issues, after all, eventually become your personal areas of expertise, and will have a powerful impact on helping others. We were invited and encouraged to address our own issues over and over again by the passionate faculty at IHN. Finally, after completing the year of full-time studies, plus the invaluable hours of field placement, I was rewarded with a permanent job in the holistic dispensary where it all began.
Favourite class
Comparative Diets. In this course we explored a variety of dietary approaches and were encouraged to critically evaluate the effectiveness of each. I liked it because it wasn’t simplistic: in it we learned that every approach has benefits and drawbacks, and that no diet is perfect or right for everyone. Such an ability to discern is vital not only for navigating through the forest of diet crazes out there, but can also be applied to so many other areas of nutrition and life in general.
Favourite quote
Nothing exists. All things are becoming. I don’t quite remember where I read this quote by Reiho Masunaga which I find surprisingly relevant to health and nutrition. It never fails to stir in me this sense of awe about the fact that we are all perpetual works in progress. Our bodies, our lives, are always becoming something, and are never “done”. We merely “borrow” nutrients for a while, integrating food, water, and oxygen into our bodies, until we return them, and ultimately ourselves, to the source. There’s a certain serenity in realizing and trusting this observable truth, and undeniable elements of hope and inspiration in how it applies to our potential for health. If we understand that we, like all things, are becoming, then through our choices, perhaps we can choose what we become.
Currently Doing in the Field of Holistic Nutrition
I just celebrated my 8th year at Turquoise Wholistic where I’m kept on my toes by the needs and questions of customers, many of whom I’m on a first-name basis with. I learn something new almost every day, and the first-hand health experiences and product feedback customers share are worth more than what can be learned from any book. It’s like giving dozens of mini one-on-one nutritional consultations all day, and I feel like I’m really making a difference in peoples lives.
I also write: I’m the author of The Nine Biggest Problem Foods and How to Live Without Them, which is a cookbook featuring recipes that are all free of gluten (including wheat), dairy products, sugar (as well as artificial sweeteners), corn, yeast, soy, eggs, peanuts and processed fats and oils (such as margarine). I recently completed my second book, Affordable Nutrition: Recipes and Remedies for those with Food Sensitivities who are Short on Money and Time. Both books are available at many health food stores and clinics in Ontario, on my website rorbooks.ca, and through Health Management Books, which distributes books to health food stores across Canada. I also had an article on food sensitivities published in Vitality magazine in May 2008.
Website – www.rorbooks.ca
Phone (optional) – (416) 275-4663
Email (optional) – ro_randall@yahoo.ca
