Helping you understand what’s happening in your body and make practical, achievable changes for better long-term health.
Alice Barker is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist offering consultations at Cherry Tree Centre in Henley-on-Thames. She works particularly with digestive health, metabolic health and weight confidence, and hormonal balance. She also supports clients with fertility and pregnancy nutrition.
Many of Alice’s clients arrive feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. They may have been living with symptoms for some time, tried different diets, supplements or approaches they have seen online, or simply have a sense that their health isn’t as good as it could be.
Alice takes a holistic, person-centred approach, helping you understand your own body and identify realistic nutrition and lifestyle changes that can fit into your everyday life.
You might already have made considerable efforts to improve your health.
Perhaps you’ve changed your diet several times, bought supplements that promised to help or tried following advice from social media. You may be taking prescribed medication but want to understand whether nutrition and lifestyle could provide additional support alongside your existing medical care.
Or you may not have a clear diagnosis at all. You simply feel tired, uncomfortable or not quite yourself and would like to understand whether aspects of your diet, lifestyle and overall health could be contributing.
Alice often works with people who have reached the point of thinking, “I don’t know what else to try.” Her aim is to take some of the confusion out of nutrition, look at the bigger picture and help you identify changes that are both relevant to you and realistic to maintain.
Digestive problems can have a significant impact on everyday life. Bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, reflux, indigestion and other persistent symptoms can affect what you eat, where you go and how comfortable you feel in your own body.
Alice has a particular interest in digestive and gut health and works with clients experiencing concerns including IBS and IBD, constipation and diarrhoea, acid reflux, indigestion and gastritis.
Rather than looking at one symptom in isolation, Alice explores your wider health history, diet and lifestyle to identify patterns that may be relevant. This can include discussing your digestive symptoms, eating habits, medications, stress, sleep and other aspects of your health. The relationship between nutrition, hydration and stress can also form part of the wider picture.
Alice also has a particular interest in metabolic health, including insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and nutritional support for people living with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
For some clients, weight is part of this picture. Alice’s approach is not about simply handing you another restrictive diet to follow. Instead, she helps you develop a better understanding of your metabolism and the factors that may be affecting your health, before working with you to establish practical and achievable goals.
For some people, food can also become connected with stress, comfort and difficult emotions. Understanding patterns such as emotional eating can be useful alongside looking at nutrition itself.
The emphasis is on changes that can be incorporated into real life rather than pursuing a short-term solution that becomes impossible to maintain.
If you are living with diabetes, pre-diabetes or another diagnosed metabolic condition, nutritional therapy is intended to complement rather than replace the medical care and medication prescribed by your healthcare team.
Changes in hormones can affect many areas of health and wellbeing, from energy and sleep to weight, mood and how you feel in your body.
Alice works with women experiencing perimenopause and menopause, taking a broader look at nutrition and lifestyle alongside the symptoms and concerns that have brought them to her.
She has undertaken recent professional development in hormonal balance as well as adrenal and thyroid issues, healthy ageing and metabolic health.
Nutritional therapy can sit alongside medical menopause care, including HRT where prescribed. Alice will not advise you to stop prescribed medication and can work with you on nutrition and lifestyle while you continue to receive appropriate medical support.
Sleep can be particularly difficult during periods of hormonal change, and Alice can consider nutrition and lifestyle as part of the wider picture when you are looking at ways to improve your sleep.
Alice also sees clients living with chronic health concerns including autoimmune conditions, hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease.
Living with a long-term condition can be frustrating, particularly when you still experience symptoms despite receiving treatment. The connection between chronic illness and emotional wellbeing can also be significant when health difficulties have continued for some time.
Nutritional therapy offers an opportunity to look more closely at your diet, lifestyle and wider health history and consider where appropriate nutritional changes may support your overall wellbeing.
Alice does not replace your GP, consultant or prescribed treatment. Her role is to provide complementary nutritional and lifestyle support as part of the wider management of your health.
Nutrition can also become particularly important when preparing for pregnancy or navigating fertility treatment and pregnancy.
Alice supports clients who want to understand how their diet and nutritional intake may support their health during this period. Her approach is individual rather than based on a generic fertility diet or supplement regime, taking account of your health history, current diet and individual circumstances.
You don’t need to be unwell to see a nutritional therapist.
Some of Alice’s clients come because they want to feel healthier, maintain their energy and take a more proactive approach to their health as they get older. Healthy ageing and longevity are areas of interest within Alice’s practice, supported by recent CPD in healthy ageing, metabolic health and hormonal balance.
Nutrition is only one part of healthy ageing. Alice can also help clients think about realistic lifestyle habits alongside diet, rather than pursuing an unrealistic idea of perfect health.
The aim is to understand where manageable changes could make a meaningful difference to your health and wellbeing over time.
Alice describes her style as warm, calm and unhurried. She wants you to have time to tell your story rather than feel that you need to rush through a list of symptoms.
Clients often value feeling heard and understood, but Alice’s work is also practical. She wants you to leave with a clearer understanding of your health and realistic strategies that you can actually use.
She describes herself as approachable, friendly and down-to-earth, and humour has a place in her consultations too.
Alice’s aim is not to tell you that everything you eat needs to change. She works collaboratively with you, taking account of your goals, lifestyle and even practical considerations such as your cooking and shopping preferences, so that recommendations are manageable within your actual life.
Alice works from a holistic, person-centred approach, with an emphasis on supporting health and prevention.
Your initial consultation involves taking a detailed health history, from childhood through to the present day. Alice explores different systems of the body and looks for patterns that may be relevant to the symptoms or health concerns you are experiencing.
She will also discuss your diet and lifestyle, current health goals and everyday habits before developing a personalised plan.
Rather than treating everybody with the same protocol, recommendations are designed around your individual circumstances and reviewed as your work progresses.
Alice’s route into nutritional therapy followed a varied career spanning finance, event management, teaching and HR.
Ten years as a teacher gave her an insight into the ways diet, family life and wider circumstances can influence health and behaviour. More recently, working as an HR manager developed her interest in employee engagement and wellbeing and in the effects that work stress, commuting, financial pressure and family responsibilities can have on health.
Alongside this, Alice had always been interested in health, wellbeing, exercise and food. Training in nutritional therapy allowed her to bring those interests together and develop a career focused on helping people understand and support their health.
As a parent of four, she also understands that recommendations need to work around busy lives rather than exist only on paper.
Alice holds a Diploma with Merit in Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy from the College of Naturopathic Medicine and is a member of the Association of Naturopathic Practitioners (mANP).
Her recent continuing professional development includes adrenal and thyroid issues, healthy ageing, metabolic health and hormonal balance.
Alice offers consultations Monday to Friday at Cherry Tree Centre in Henley-on-Thames.
The initial consultation lasts 75 minutes. Before your appointment, you will complete a questionnaire and food diary. Following the consultation, Alice prepares a full report and personalised protocol, which is emailed within 3–5 days, followed by a short phone call to check your understanding and answer any questions.
Follow-up consultations last 45 minutes and are generally arranged approximately 4–6 weeks later. Alice reviews your progress and can adapt your plan and goals where necessary.
Standalone Initial Consultation: £145
Follow-Up Consultation: £90
Alice also offers three packages:
Health Foundations – £220
Initial Consultation + Follow-Up
Health Progress – £390
Initial Consultation, Follow-Up at four weeks, 30-minute check-in at week eight, and a 60-minute review and maintenance plan.
Health Journey – £520
Initial Consultation, Follow-Up at four weeks, three 30-minute check-ins, and a 60-minute review and maintenance plan.
Alice offers a free discovery call to discuss what is currently happening with your health, what you would like support with and whether nutritional therapy is appropriate for your needs.
Alice takes a detailed health history and explores the different systems of your body, alongside your diet, lifestyle and current concerns. This helps her identify patterns that may be relevant and begin developing a personalised nutritional and lifestyle plan.
No. Alice does not ask clients to stop prescribed medication. Nutritional therapy can be used alongside appropriate medical treatment.
Many clients have two or three follow-up appointments, although this depends on your individual needs. More complex or long-standing health concerns may benefit from longer support.
Yes. Alice offers online consultations as well as appointments in Henley-on-Thames.
That is a common reason people approach Alice. Rather than simply adding another generic diet or supplement regime, she looks at your individual health history, current symptoms, diet and lifestyle to develop recommendations specific to you.
You don’t need to arrive knowing exactly what needs to change.
You may be living with persistent digestive symptoms, struggling with metabolic or hormonal changes, wanting nutritional support alongside an existing diagnosis, or simply feeling that your health could be better.
Alice’s aim is to help you understand what is happening in your body, identify your individual challenges and develop practical, achievable daily habits that support your long-term health and vitality.
If you would like to book a call with Alice, please complete the form below, and she will be in touch.