KATE KNOWLER
Nutritional Therapist, Phlebotomist, Mentor, Author
Hello! I’m Kate Knowler
I’m a registered nutritional therapist (NNA) with 20 years of clinical experience, supporting both my own clients and practitioners who want to learn more about blood test interpretation.
I love nothing more than getting stuck into a set of blood test results and trying to understand where we can help from a nutritional perspective (and, equally, when the help that’s needed is out of our remit because a formal diagnosis is required).
Here’s my full story…
It all went wrong when I was 25. I’d worked my way up the IT career ladder from answering the IT helpdesk phones at 17 years old, to long hours supporting corporate networks and doing a bit of SQL programming on the side, while also ordering takeaway to eat at my desk.
I thought this was the way my life was meant to be. But the long hours, high stress, and poor diet were giving me poor health. After 8 years of struggling with my health, I was starting to realise that maybe this wasn’t the career for me.
I’d have palpitations on the train into work.
If I got a lunch break I’d spend it crying in the toilets.
I’d go home late in the evening with abdominal cramps so bad I couldn’t stand up straight.
My skin looked awful – acne, boils, a strange infection on the corner of my lips, and hiding under my clothes were several patches of eczema.
And don’t even get me started about my menstrual cycle – I hadn’t seen my period for months and my GP was talking about infertility!
One afternoon, instead of writing some code, I Googled some of my symptoms and realised I was more than just overworked. I was on the road to burnout.
A few hours later, and I’d discovered a world of nutrition that I never knew existed. I was doubtful that simply eating well would make a difference, but I was so convinced my GP would dismiss my symptoms and call me a hypochondriac that I embarked on a wholefood diet.
I ditched the box of cereal that I was relying on for breakfast and lunch, dodged the late night takeaways, and office sweet treats, and started eating three proper meals each day. Just three weeks later, my skin was clearing, my abdominal cramps were easing, and I was realising that good food really could taste better than the processed convenience food I’d been surviving on for so many years.
I looked into home study courses for nutrition. There weren’t many, but I found one that was perfect and looked like I’d be able to fit it in around my day job. Just one module into the course, I realised I’d found my calling. Being a nutritional therapist, being able to help others, was totally me. I decided to quit my job and the corporate lifestyle, and focus on retraining as a nutritional therapist. When I told my boss, he laughed and said he’d keep my job open – I’ve never been more determined to turn an offer like that down!
I’ve been working as a nutritional therapist ever since I passed that course, and I’ve never looked back (well, maybe once, briefly, but not since!)
During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, I had to temporarily close my business. I couldn’t face spending the whole time simply waiting to reopen, so I spent the first lockdown writing my first ever book – a guide to teaching other practitioners how to read blood tests.
Now, Blood Labs is available on Amazon for Kindle and paperback as an international best seller, I’ve written five other books to go with it, and all six of my books can be found on the recommended reading lists for the main nutritional therapy colleges in the UK – a “pinch me” moment for sure.
In the second lockdown, I retrained as a phlebotomist. My clients were struggling to get NHS blood tests, which meant I was struggling to help them. Becoming a phlebotomist seemed like the most logical solution, and I quickly realised that phlebotomy training varies greatly between providers.
After passing two different phlebotomy training courses and still not having touched a human vein, I vowed to change the world of private phlebotomy and blood testing, one vein at a time.
That goal is still in progress – I have my Level 3 Ofqual Regulated Phlebotomy School, I mentor over 50 private phlebotomists, and I’m setting up the Private Phlebotomy Association with my colleague Luanne Punch.
I have a CQC regulated clinic in Fitzrovia, near Tottenham Court Road, and I am the Queen of all things blood.
