Personalised Nutrition and Corporate Wellness with
Minna Wood (MSc, mBANT, CNHC), Digestive and Menopause Health Specialist Let me help.
MetaWell is a personalised nutrition, lifestyle medicine and mindset coaching clinic based in Bracknell (Berkshire UK), founded by Minna Wood (MSc, mBANT, CNHC). Minna is a BANT registered nutrition and lifestyle medicine practitioner, digestive and menopause health specialist and mindset coach. Book a free discovery call with Minna to see how nutritional therapy and lifestyle medicine can help you achieve your health goals: https://calendly.com/metawell/
Gut Health, Christmas Health, Festive Season, Stress-free Christmas, Nutrition, MetaWell, Nutritionist Minna Wood, Berkshire, Bracknell
11/12/2025
Healthy Christmas Prezzies!
Are you still struggling to decide what to get for your loved ones for Christmas?
Are you among those who dash to the shops at the very last moment to get anything from the shops and end up buying socks or pyjamas made in China or sugar-laden chocolates and bottles of wine?
Do you tend to receive prezzies that immediately go to the pile to be taken to the charity shop?
Those situations can be very disappointing and a complete waste of money!
Practical and health-supporting prezzies are always on top of my list - to receive and to give.
So I thought I give you a bit of a helping hand in getting your presents sorted for the Big Day!
And if you fancy some for yourself, just nudge your family members!
Find a list for healthy Christmas gift ideas on my website store -> 'recommended products' (clickable link in comments ๐๐ผ).
Swipe through ๐๐ผ and see below ๐๐ผ for my favourite health brands that you'll find there along with some great discount codes.
Let's make this Christmas healthy!
nootropics
Tropic skincare
06/12/2025
UPFs linked to harm in all major organs
โWorldโs largest scientific review warns that consumption of UPFs poses seismic threat to global health and wellbeingโ
--The Guardian 18th Nov 2025
A series of papers published in the Lancet that included more than 100 review studies concluded that consumption of ultra-processed foods causes harm to every major organ system in the human body.
We know that, on average, almost 60% of calories come from UPFs in the UK, while for many children and poorer families this figure can be as high as 80-100%.
These "food-like substances", manufactured by a handful of multinationals and formulated to be irresistible to us, create a reward response in the brain that drives food addiction.
They are readily available, hyperpalatable, often cheaper than fresh food and hence difficult to resist.
They are nutrient-void but full of synthetic additives.
On the packaging, they claim to be healthy but are nothing but!
We now know that they are linked to gut inflammation and altered gut microbiome with reduced abundance of crucial beneficial bacteria. Along with gut issues, increased consumption is driving brain related health issues, such as cognitive decline and mental health disorders, as well as obesity, cardiometabolic illness and mortality.
If these are your staples, it's time to rethink your diet. Start by cooking from scratch, one meal at a time. You don't have to be perfect but the more home-cooked and fresh food you eat, the better.
One of my favourite quotes about what the best diet is comes from a talk by Michael Pollan (he's quoting a food industry marketing expert):
"Eat anything you want, just cook it yourself."
And that really is true!
It is the only way to avoid letting food industry control your eating behaviours and damaging your health, which these addictive, irresistible โfood-like substancesโ do!
Check out my simple tips on the last but one slide. ๐๐ผ
If you need help to understand how to get away from eating too many UPFs, Iโd love to help. ๐ฅฐ
Get in touch, clickable links via bio, or DM me here.
24/11/2025
Are you using the greatest power you have?
What you believe, you become! Your beliefs become you!
Read more in my latest blog.
What you believe, you become! It's the greatest power you have. By Minna Wood, Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner
22/11/2025
๐ฆ Thyroid Hormones, Testing & Factors Supporting Thyroid Function
๐ฆ The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland of the endocrine (hormone) system, located in the front of your neck.
๐ฆ Itโs the main control centre for metabolism of all cells, your thermostat and regulator of myriad of functions in your body.
๐ฆ Because it influences so many functions and systems, the list of symptoms of dysfunctional thyroid is long and very individual.
Read more about the different hormones, antibodies and factors that affect/support your thyroid function by swiping though. ๐๐ผ
This is the title of a talk I'm doing today at the Face2Face Maidenhead networking meeting.
I will show some statistics and survey results of the state of health at work in the UK and how ill health is affecting productivity of not just the individual people but also businesses as a whole.
I will also talk about ultra-processed foods and their health effects, the gut-brain axis (of course!! ๐ฉ ๐ง ) and how to improve gut, mental and overall health with the power of food.
Can't wait to meet all the other local business owners. This meeting is sold out but check out their next one in December if you want to visit (link in comments).
I bought a new yoga headstand stool recently that has been sitting in the corner waiting to be used.
I've been looking at it, feeling a bit scared of it, not knowing how exactly to approach practicing with it and getting used to being upside down (not a very natural position for us humans!), and most importantly, to trust my body strength.
Luckily I have a fantastic yoga teacher who knows her stuff and has a lovely studio near me.
So I asked her help.
And last weekend I had a great 1:1 session with Phyl Hyland to learn the correct technique and build up my confidence for using my new yoga prop.
Phyl is brilliant in breaking things down and encouraging you to take it slowly, step-by-step. So that's what we did, and with each step I got more and more confident with getting into, and staying in, the final position, which for me, for now, is with my heels against the wall.
The next step is to get the heels off the wall and my body straight. And that will come with more practice and patience.
It's was hard work and I felt it in every muscle of my body! And it def tested my mindset!
The step-wise approach really helped, I felt heard, supported and guided, and that was exactly what I needed in order to get through my limiting beliefs.
'I can't do it' got overwritten by 'Yes, I can!'.
Changing health habits is not unlike learning a new skill.
I too use this same approach when helping my clients who are ready to change their behaviours to improve their health.
๐ I simplify things for them, I encourage them to take one small step at a time and build from there.
๐ I ask them to focus on small goals, and the bigger ones will eventually follow.
๐ I'm there to hold their hand when they need it and guide them through challenges.
๐ I encourage them to question their limiting beliefs and work on them.
๐ And we'll celebrate each small win before setting a new goal.
There are few people who can learn new skills just on their own without support from an expert.
And acknowledging that you need help is the first step towards achieving your goals.
Habit change is difficult - you've perfected your old habits for decades so it will take some time to unlearn them and learn new ones.
If your health issues are wearing you down and you have been trying to do it all by yourself but are not getting anywhere or are struggling to understand what your next step should be, it's time to get help!
Get in touch for a chat and we can discuss more on how I can help you dig deep to understand your health issues and support you as you take small steps to address these, so you can start feeling better and more confident in trusting your body.
Don't expect to know it all yourself. I would be happy to take some of that burden off your shoulders.
Let's chat! ๐ฅฐ
06/11/2025
Are you ready to prioritise yourself and your health?
Then let's chat about where you are now and how we can work together to help you feel strong, energised and truly well again.
Get in touch via direct message or via my website (link in bio ๐๐ผ).
I look forward to meeting you soon. ๐
27/10/2025
What do your cholesterol results mean?
To understand whether you really need statin medication, you should understand what blood tests you need to request from your doctor and what your results actually mean.
Donโt just blindly accept that your need medication because your โcholesterol is highโ.
Here is a quick guide for you, swipe through. ๐๐ผ
Focusing on total/LDL cholesterol alone without looking at the rest of the numbers and your lifestyle is pretty meaningless.
Statins are only useful in lowering your cholesterol if there's metabolic dysfunction present and the mechanism of action is via reducing clotting and inflammation.
But in most cases the same can also be done with dietary and lifestyle changes (and without side effects of medication).
My Wellness Check covers most of these markers and I can also run further markers for you when you work with me.
You can find more information on my website, by booking a free discovery call via my website or emailing me.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when MetaWell posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Hello, Iโm Minna, a Nutrition Geek & Gut Health Detective!
Iโm here to help people dig deeper, in order to understand the root causes of chronic symptoms and help them feel better for good.
I enjoy showing my clients how health starts on the plate & in the mind and how the little creatures in the gut, aka the gut microbiome, affect the health of our whole body and mind, and how, in turn, our food and lifestyle influence these creatures that call our bodies their home.
Our environment โ 24/7 society, chronically busy and stressed lives and constant temptation of unhealthy, sugary and processed foods โ doesnโt really encourage us to stay healthy and balanced. And constant conflicting headlines in the media about what's healthy and what's not can be very confusing! We all know that fad diets donโt work! Instead, sustainable and consistent changes in lifestyle are required to achieve permanent long-term results. And sometimes we just need help to kickstart the process, and I'm here if you need support!
I can help you get to the root causes of your symptoms, support you with personalised recommendations, help you stay on track and empower you to take control of your health for good so you can start being the creator of the health that you really need and want.
I love working on a 1-to-1 basis and personalising my advice to each individual but I also get a buzz from educating and inspiring groups of people, whether it's staff members of large corporations, smaller companies, charities and organisations, or just a small group of friends wanting to have an alternative get-together making ferments or watching a healthy food demo and tasting the food prepared, with a glass of kombucha in their hands, of course!
With my MSc degree in Personalised Nutrition science and diploma in Nutritional Therapy Practice, as well as my NLP mindset coaching training and skills, the tips and advice I will give you are always evidence-based, personalised (when working 1-to-1) and very practical.
I see clients at my home nutrition clinic in Bracknell and via Zoom for personalised nutrition programmes and mindset coaching, and I also run cooking and fermenting sessions with individuals and groups in the local community.
If you want to read some (fun?) facts about me, check out this post: https://bit.ly/2TnKMYI
Minna x
*****
To get personalised advice and recommendations on how you can support your own health with nutrition and lifestyle medicine, please get in touch with me to book your free 20 minute discovery call: calendly.com/metawell/. Letโs have a chat about how I could help you find the root causes of your chronic health issues and achieve your health goals.
And in the meantime, Iโd like to welcome you to come and join our friendly and supportive tribe on my Facebook group for free health and nutrition tips and recipes and meal/snack ideas: https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthynewyouforlife/
