Anuja Shandilya
Specialist in Alopecia
and other autoimmune skin and hair disorders
Anuja Shandilya
BSc Biomed [Neuro] BA Ayu (1st) DipION [Dist] CFMP 200YTT
Registered Nutritional Therapist, Functional Medicine and Ayurvedic Practitioner
Specialist in Alopecia and other autoimmune skin & hair disorders
Anuja's Story
As the only practitioner in the UK qualified in Nutritional Therapy, Functional Medicine, Ayurveda and Yoga I am able to offer my clients a beautiful blend of the best of both the Eastern and Western models of healthcare. So often individuals consider themselves ‘victims’ of a body gone rogue or an inheritance of a poor set of genes, they identify themselves with the label of a disease and feel the medications that they now need to take are life’s offering to them. I believe my role is to show you a different perspective, a larger picture within which you fall. How your personal life journey, your family history, your daily habits, the food’s you eat and how you eat them, how you sleep, when you sleep and a long list of many other factors may be contributing to the symptoms you are currently struggling with and most importantly how you have the ability to make choices that can change your health and return you to a place of balance and wellness.
My journey started 22 years ago during my BSc in Biomedical Sciences and Neuroscience. Having struggled with my weight my whole childhood I had been fascinated by the human body. I was convinced that no 2 people were the same and that there was something about my unique physiology that meant I was not my ideal weight. Whilst I was intrigued by the precision and detail that modern science offered, I was equally disappointed with the lack of stability in the information I was taught. New research papers would emerge that would discount research of decades in a moment. This led me to want to delve deeper in the ancestral medical system within which I had been raised of Ayurveda. A science that had not changed, what my parents had been taught were still relevant for the life that I lived.
Ayurvedic medicine offered a completely refreshingly welcomed perspective on the human body. It explained that we were all individually unique and what would create a state of disease in one person may not in another. It gave importance to our daily habits and how this would affect our health. From our physical choices of food, bedtime, exercise to how we dealt with our emotions. Ayurveda gave importance to prevention of disease as opposed to simply treating the symptoms of an illness. It gave view to a much larger perspective of health than the narrow one I had been learning about all those years.
Over the years I witnessed a change in medical science moving towards concepts similar to that of Ayurvedic medicine. The same concepts that my medical peers used to frown upon me for were now strewn over social media, research articles and even promoted by the same medical professionals.
As I continued to stay ahead of the research I welcomed the emergence of Functional Medicine. A science based model of health that represented the traditional Ayurvedic model of health. I went on to gain my qualifications in Nutritional Therapy and Functional Medicine so that I could now support clients with the best of both.
Over the years I have seen thousands of clients suffering with a host of different health conditions and taught numerous seminars. I have helped my own children and close family members treat conditions like eczema, asthma, diabetes, arthritis, migraines, acne and low immunity.
I have also been on my own personal health journey. Having treated PCOS, dealt with weight related issues, suffered with lower back issues and mental health challenges. Four years ago these symptoms began to manifest more physically as I started to develop large alopecia patches. It is only when you start to lose something you begin to value it. I was distraught. As a health professional I felt even more the pressure to ‘look’ healthy. Why would someone see a practitioner that could not treat her own health? Understanding the roots of alopecia are auto immune based I embarked on a journey of learning to prioritise my own health and working at the deeper factors at play.
Whilst I treat all conditions in my clinic my key areas of passion include neurological and mood related conditions, hormonal conditions, fertility, skin and hair related conditions as well as supporting those on a plant based diet. I understand the importance of making healthcare practical and do-able in a fast paced world demanding quick solutions.
Work with Anuja
To enquire about Anuja's Prices and Packages or to make a booking, please email info@autoimmuneclinic.co.uk
Consultations available:
Virtual Clinic via Zoom
Clinic's in: Watford, Islington, London
I am registered with the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT). I am also a member of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). As a CNHC member, I meet the National Occupational Standards in the practice of nutritional therapy and I am obliged to abide by the CNHC Code of Conduct, Performance and Ethics. In addition, I am a certified Functional Medicine Practitioner with the CFMP and I am fully insured by Salon Gold Insurance Brokers.