Sculpt & Balance

Sculpt & Balance Dr Kelly Popplestone
Cellular Health & Lifestyle Medicine practitioner and coach. specialising: ADHD & Autism, Womens Health inc Aesthetics & Chronic pain.

Cellular testing, Sensitivty teating, Gut biome hacking.

Day -17 ❓Essential Amino Acids: Why Your Body Depends on Them❓❤️ Amino acids are the building blocks your body uses to r...
11/12/2025

Day -17
❓Essential Amino Acids: Why Your Body Depends on Them❓

❤️ Amino acids are the building blocks your body uses to repair tissues, balance hormones, support immunity, and keep your brain functioning well.
Out of the 20 amino acids your body uses,
9️⃣ are “essential”— 👌
You heard me ESSENTIAL …. ‼️meaning you must get them from what you eat because your body can’t produce them on its own!

So Why Do We Need Essential Amino Acids❓

Essential amino acids support:
• Muscle repair and healthy ageing
• Neurotransmitter production for focus, mood, sleep, and stress response
• Immune resilience
• Enzyme and hormone balance
• Healthy skin, hair, joints, and connective tissue

When levels are low, you may notice fatigue, poor recovery, weaker immunity, disrupted mood, and trouble concentrating.

Where We Get Them
* Essential amino acids naturally come from protein-rich foods:
• Meat, fish, eggs
• Beans, lentils, chickpeas
• Tofu, tempeh
• Nuts and seeds
• Whole grains

* Animal sources usually provide a full spectrum of essential amino acids in the right ratios.
* Plant sources can be excellent too—but often need thoughtful combining to meet full requirements (for example, beans + whole grains).

Why Today’s Diet Doesn’t Always Deliver
Modern diets often fall short for several reasons:
• Ultra-processed foods displace whole-food proteins
• Soil depletion reduces micronutrient density, which affects amino acid profiles in plants
• Lower-quality animal feeds change the nutritional makeup of meat and dairy
• Busy lifestyles mean many people don’t reach optimal daily protein intake
• Digestive issues (common with stress, medications, inflammation, or ageing) reduce absorption even when intake looks adequate

So even when we eat “enough,” the usable amino acids can be much lower than expected.

So What Else Could Support Essential Amino Acid Needs❓

☺️ I offer targeted nutrition that helps close the gaps left by modern diets:
•A broad-spectrum micronutrient and phytonutrient formula including vitamin D, minerals, and cofactors that help your body use amino acids effectively.
•Prebiotic and Postbiotics – Supports a healthy gut microbiome, which improves absorption and utilisation of the amino acids you consume.
• Scientificially balanced Omega3 - Helps reduce chronic inflammation, which is essential for proper protein turnover and muscle repair.
• An affron derived product scientifically made to support mood and stress balance, helping maintain the hormonal environment that allows amino acids to be used optimally.

Paired with a balanced diet and lifestyle, these products help fill in the nutritional gaps that many people struggle with today.

So make your health or give a loved one the gift of their health for Christmas
Sculpt & Balance







Day 14 – Antibiotics & Your GutAntibiotics save lives — but they don’t come without consequences.Think of your gut like ...
08/12/2025

Day 14 – Antibiotics & Your Gut

Antibiotics save lives — but they don’t come without consequences.
Think of your gut like a garden: the infection (weeds) gets cleared… but the flowers and helpful insects (your good microbes) get taken out too.
It can take up to two years for your gut to fully recover.

Why it matters:
• Good + bad bacteria are reduced → bloating, loose stools, constipation
• 70% of your immune system lives in the gut → imbalance = inflammation
• Your gut influences mood + energy → dips are common after antibiotics
• Digestion + nutrient absorption can drop
• Supporting recovery lowers the risk of yeast overgrowth + repeat infections

How to support your gut (no rapeseed oil):
1️⃣ Rebuild microbes: probiotics, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi + prebiotic fibres
2️⃣ Eat anti-inflammatory foods: colourful veg, berries, olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, omega-3s, gentle proteins
3️⃣ Repair the gut lining: bone broth, collagen, L-glutamine, polyphenol-rich foods
4️⃣ Cut back sugar + ultra-processed foods
5️⃣ Lower stress to support the gut–brain connection

How do you really know what your gut needs?
You test. Evidence, not guesswork.

At Sculpt & Balance, I use lifestyle medicine + functional nutrition to help clients restore gut health from the inside out — and the results change lives. 💜

Fabulous offer to complement your journey with me! Go check out Fit20 Plymouth Plympton with gabbi and Steve and their w...
29/11/2025

Fabulous offer to complement your journey with me! Go check out Fit20 Plymouth Plympton with gabbi and Steve and their wonderful Black Friday offer …. 👌

Day 15 - navigating menopause? So many women come to me feeling like they’re “running out of willpower”…but what I see, ...
28/11/2025

Day 15 - navigating menopause?

So many women come to me feeling like they’re “running out of willpower”…
but what I see, over and over again, is that they’re actually running out of omega-3.

I can’t tell you how familiar this story has become.

A woman sits down with me—already apologising for being exhausted, overwhelmed, emotional, inflamed… carrying far more than anyone can see.

And before she’s even finished speaking, I can almost predict what her BalanceTest will reveal:

Low EPA.
Low DHA.
AA sky-high.

Skin that’s reactive and stressed, almost as if it’s trying to send out a quiet SOS.

None of this is because she’s “not trying hard enough.”
It’s simply that her biology is working unbelievably hard to keep her going.

Women burn through omega-3 at a rate we rarely acknowledge.
Faster than men.
Faster than we talk about.
Faster than most people ever realise.

Because EPA and DHA get used every single time we’re navigating life:

▪️ Stress
▪️ Constant decision-making
▪️ The emotional load we silently carry
▪️ Broken or light sleep
▪️ Blood sugar swings
▪️ And of course… hormones

(Perimenopause and the luteal phase alone could form their own full-time jobs.)

When oestrogen drops, omega-3 demand rises.
When cortisol goes up, omega-3 gets used to stabilise the system.
When our nervous system is working overtime, EPA is burned like fuel.

Women are not failing.
We’re being asked to run a biochemical marathon with almost nothing in the tank.

And our skin often shows it before we even realise what’s happening:

The flushing that won’t settle.
Breakouts that appear out of nowhere.
Redness and sensitivity that feel new or confusing.

Underneath all of that?

Cells that are rigid, tired and dehydrated… simply missing the essential fats they need to regulate inflammation, support mood, and repair.

This is why inside-out support matters.
Why testing matters.
Why so many women start to feel genuinely different—lighter, clearer, more themselves—when their biology finally gets what it has quietly been craving.

If your skin, energy, or mood have been shouting at you lately… please hear this:

It’s not you.
It’s not a lack of willpower.
You may simply be running low on the very materials your body needs to stay balanced.

I’m reminding myself of that too. We all deserve proper care.

Black Friday is a beautiful moment to begin.
I’ve popped the offer link in the comments 👇🏻

🎅 With Christmas around the corner a couple of gift ideas 🧧I have my usual gift vouchers that can be bought from £10 or ...
25/11/2025

🎅 With Christmas around the corner a couple of gift ideas

🧧I have my usual gift vouchers that can be bought from £10 or you can buy a full treatment for all aesthetics and cellular health products

Relaxation facial - £60

Microneedling with client specific treatment serums £75 per session or 3 for £200.

Dermal filler treatments - area dependant. £75per ml.

Anti-wrinkle (toxin) - £300 (medical and prescription required)

Threads - £30 per thread.

Lipolysis - Fat dissolve injections - price area dependant.

Weightloss programme injections - £200
Inc gut health programme coaching.

Face and neck at home LED mask £75

Marine Collagen: makes a lovely gift and comes with a £20 gift voucher which can be used towards any paid treatment at clinic

Men’s Energise Day cream - Light and fresh activating 24H cream. Restoring, reinforcing and guarding. £67

Skin serum - The 24-hour Skin Serum for face and neck reduces fine lines and wrinkles. Rejuvenates by rebuilding the extra-cellular matrix, providing tensile strength and elasticity to the skin. £52

Perhaps give the gift of health to someone you ❤️
Cellular health test and single bottle of oil - £150

Sensitivity test - £75

Buy both tests for £200 - avail as Black Friday deal - pre purchase as a gift and can be used after Xmas

BRAND NEW - science backed, first in the world, finger prick GUT health test £120

Vit D test: essential vitamin D, our sunshine vitamin depletes in the winter £65

HbA1c glucose test - helps you find out if your current lifestyle is sustainable, or if you need to take action now for lasting health. We’ll determine your long-term blood sugar levels in the context of your diet and overall habits and guide you towards a future of well-being. £65

❤️ Client reviews say it all! ❤️🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
24/11/2025

❤️ Client reviews say it all! ❤️
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Address

Plymouth
PL97HQ

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sculpt & Balance posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Sculpt & Balance:

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram