Joan Faria

Joan Faria DipCNM MBANT is a BANT Registered Nutritionist® who qualified from the College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2017. She first became interested in the power of food to influence health when she had a breast cancer diagnosis in 2013 at the age of 40. With an unfavourable prognosis and having had a poor response to chemotherapy, she decided to do as much as she could to support her health using diet and lifestyle. Knowing that she was preparing food that would nourish her and have a positive effect on her health was a great comfort at a time when everything felt out of control, so she decided to retrain as a nutritional therapist.

Joan has now been running her practice, Empowered Nutrition, for over 5 years and has a particular passion for supporting women through and after cancer treatment. Nutritional therapy can help with easing treatment related side effects, supporting the efficacy of treatment as well as helping people to journey back to optimum health afterwards. As Joan found herself, a cancer diagnosis can bring uncertainty and a loss of control, and good nutrition can be a positive focus. Joan has completed further cancer-specific nutrition training with both the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel. Since 2018, Joan has been living well with recurrent incurable breast cancer which has spread to her bones and liver.

Aside from nutrition and cancer, Joan is married and has three almost grown-up sons. She enjoys playing the viola in her local amateur orchestra, drinking herbal teas with friends, Nordic Walking in the woods and a little bit of running. She lives in East London.