Common questions at The JCN clinic
A nutritionist will help you implement positive health changes through the use of both thorough dietary planning and individualised therapeutic nutritional foods. A nutritionist will also consider your entire health picture to ensure that your treatment is aimed at treating the core driver of your health issues. Seeing a Nutritionist is also beneficial for preventative care, along with management of already existing health conditions and chronic ill-health.
A clinical nutritionist is a nutritionist that works with assessing your health concerns in a thorough framework using in-depth case taking combined with general and functional pathology testing. A clinical nutritionist will also prescribe practitioner only supplementation to support your health. The qualifications of the clinical nutritionists at The JCN Clinic are to a bachelor’s degree standard, providing the recognised level of education required for accreditation with the Australian Natural Therapies Association (ANTA).
As per a clinical nutritionist, a clinical naturopath at The JCN Clinic will similarly help you implement positive health changes through the use of dietary planning, individualised therapeutic nutritional foods, with the additional use of herbal supplementation. Our naturopaths differ to standard naturopathic care given the knowledge and implementation of in-depth dietary treatment plans used with all our clients at JCN.
Likewise to our clinical nutritionists, the qualifications of the clinical naturopaths at The JCN Clinic are to a bachelor’s degree standard, providing the recognised level of education required for accreditation with the Australian Natural Therapies Association (ANTA)
Seeing a Nutritionist or Naturopath at The JCN Clinic can help you learn how to implement the best dietary intake to suit your individual needs. Our practitioners can help you identify problem areas in your day to day diet where you may be missing out on important macronutrients or micronutrients. Our practitioners can identify how your dietary intake is affecting your health and aid you in achieving your goals through the use of dietary adjustments, medicinal use of food and key supplements. Our Nutritionists and Naturopaths can also help you treat health issues such as poor digestion, low energy, mental health issues, hormonal imbalances and more with the use of therapeutic nutrition.
This is a very grey area, as it depends of the level of study attained and even what country you have studied in. Here in Australia you can obtain a Bachelor Degree in Nutrition or Dietetics from University or College. When looking for a Nutritionist or a Dietician it is always best to ensure they have completed a bachelor’s degree and that they hold accreditation with associations. There are some Nutritional courses that are not reputable and only contain a small period of study time.
A nutritionist generally works more one on one with clients in a clinical setting. From a holist perspective nutritionist work more systemically taking into consideration the workings of digestion and metabolism and all other body systems. However, depending on the type of study completed a Nutritionist may still have a very ‘dietetics’ approach. It’s important to assess each practitioner in regard to the results that you are after.
Dieticians in Australia play more of a role in hospital settings and government-based roles. They work heavily with disease processes such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. Dieticians also practice privately, but will generally focus on food intake alone, without delving into the whole-body treatment, especially from a holistic perspective.
Please remember these are generalisations and based on Australian only. There are some dieticians practicing in other Countries with very solid holist approaches
Yes, your nutritionist can order blood work, but this is done on a non-Medicare basis meaning you will have to pay for your tests. When it comes to general blood testing, we prefer to provide a referral letter for you to visit your GP and have your blood work taken under Medicare where possible.
Yes a nutritionist or naturopath can order all facets of functional testing and The JCN Clinic uses functional testing frequently within our clinic. At the JCN Clinic we are highly skilled in functional testing, its interruption and treatment protocols as a result. You can learn more about some of our most popular functional testing used in clinic here.
Yes! Our nutritional and naturopathic consultations can be effectively held via Telehealth inclusive of online and over the phone. In fact we find that our online nutritionist and naturopathic consultations are just as popular, if not more so, than our in-clinic appointments due to ease and flexibility around busy lives.
Telehealth consultations also provide accessibility to The JCN Clinic nationally and internationally.
You will experience our consistent level of treatment, support and care via our online services and phone consultations as you would within an in-clinic appointment at our Brisbane Clinic. It is imperative to us that our accredited clinical nutritionist’s and naturopath provide exceptional care no matter what platform we use to deliver our services.
Our Telehealth Consultations are conducted from either The JCN Clinic or from your nutritionist’s or naturopath’s home office. When you make an appointment for a Telehealth consultation our easy to use Cliniko booking system will automatically generate a link for your personalised virtual meeting room that will be emailed to you. Your confirmation appointment email and text messages will also include this virtual meeting link. Our warm and helpful reception team can provide you with additional details and answer any questions you may have if Telehealth is new to you.
You can also choose to select Phone Consultation for from our booking system if preferred. Your JCN nutritionist or naturopath will simply call you on the day of your consultation on your agreed number*.
*Please note only Australian clients for phone consultations.
Yes, we offer a 10% senior, concession and pensioner discount to our consultations.
No, Medicare does not cover Nutritionists.
Many private health insurers cover Nutrition. Please check with your own provider and ensure this is the case. We ask you to specify that you are seeing a nutritionist, not a dietician to ensure the correct information.
We do not offer NDIS and GP Management Plans at The JCN Clinic. Currently these plans are only eligible through a dietician within Australia under the Medicare Benefits Schedule.
After making your Telehealth or phone consultation you will receive a welcome email from The JCN Clinic confirming your appointment along with a link to fill our our New Client History Form that we ask you to complete prior to your appointment.
At the end of your Telehealth or phone consultation your JCN nutritionist or naturopath will send you (via email) your comprehensive individualised nutritional prescription along with any additional information and instructions pertaining to testing and supplements. Supplements can be posted to you from The JCN Clinic reception team at your convenience at any time.
During your consultation we will provide you with everything you need to know related to any functional testing requirements.
Functional testing such as stool analysis, SIBO testing, DUTCH hormone testing and more can all be organised with ease through our online portals for you after your consultation.
All we require you to do is to fill out one of our JCN New Client History Form which will be automatically emailed to you after you book online and attached to your virtual file. Alternately our friendly and helpful reception staff can provide you with this paper work at your initial consultation in clinic.
At The JCN Clinic your initial consultation is 1.5 hours and involves an extensive case history taking with your Nutritionist or Naturopath. Within the initial consultation our primary goal is to understand your full case history and your goals. We will also take a comprehensive dietary history and discuss your daily food intake habits around your lifestyle and exercise. At the end of an initial consultation we will provide you with a full dietary plan broken down into meals of the day with recipes and recipe links that has been individualised to your needs. We will also discuss with you any testing that may be required and prescribe any supplements that may be suited to your health concerns. Our goal is to also ensure you understand the treatment plan ahead and give you guidelines on the structure of this and what to expect in future appointments.
After an initial consultation we prefer to see you in 3 – 4 weeks for assessment of progress and also test results that may have been ordered and are ready for discussion. We also use this opportunity to continue to modify your dietary plan as required based on your progress and feedback.
You can then expect to see your JCN nutritionist or naturopath monthly on average until ready to move to our maintenance care.
This is up to you! We like to see you until we have your health concerns all sorted and then prefer to see you on a maintenance level of x2 per year to ensure you are eating a great diverse wholefood nutritional diet consistently and seasonally. At The JCN Clinic we know from experience that life gets busy and great structure with food and lifestyle can slip, so we find a twice yearly check in very beneficial.
When dealing with your initial symptoms and health issues we generally need to see you for at least 6 months – 12 months but please note this is highly individual to you and your health concerns.
You can email any short questions about your nutritional prescription after your consultation to your practitioner. If you have quite a few queries we offer 15-minute phone consultations between appointments that can be very handy for checking in if you feel you need to touch base. Our JCN reception team is also available to answer any general questions about supplements, bookings and more so please always feel free to reach out to our friendly reception team.
At The JCN Clinic we do work specifically with weight loss. We also offer specific weight loss programs that respect weight loss as a multifactorial approach (meaning fat loss is often more complex than calories in and calories expended each day). At The JCN Clinic we provide an individual approach where you can book in for a comprehensive initial consultation tailored to your weight loss goals specifically, where our primary focus is to identify and treat the underlying factors contributing to your weight concerns. Alternatively, you can choose from one of our packages that may align more specifically with your goals. Our most popular are our The JCN Healthy Weight Loss & Movement Package.
We have a selection of programs and packages available at The JCN Clinic that offer structured consultations over a set timeframe to suit specific health and wellness goals.
The JCN Ultimate Gut Health Program
The JCN Nurtured Mood Package
The JCN Healthy Hormones Package
The JCN Foundations of Health Package
The JCN Healthy Weight Loss & Movement Package
The JCN Metabolic Wellbeing Package
Nutritional FAQ’s
Macronutrients are nutrients needed in large amounts by the body for cellular energy and growth (whereas micronutrients are needed in lesser amounts). There are three major macronutrients. Carbohydrates, Protein and Fats.
Carbohydrates are made up of starches, cellulose and sugars. Essentially starches (a group of sugar molecules stuck together) are broken down into sugars in our bodies after ingestion and used for energy production. Cellulose is not digestible and passes through our digestive tract. Biochemically we call carbohydrates saccharides, and they can be divided into four groups: monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. From a nutritionists perspective, we often label carbs as simple or complex carbohydrates. Generally, the more complex a carbohydrate is, the more sugar molecules are involved in its structure (such as a polysaccharide or oligosaccharides). Or, we may say a complex carbohydrate food contains digestible saccharide (sugars) from a wholefood source, alongside fiber and nutrients, as opposed to processed carbohydrates, which provide energy but few other nutrients and negligible fiber.
Generally simple carbohydrate foods are broken down and absorbed quickly, as in the majority they do not contain much fibre to slow down the absorption process. They most often fall into the categories of monosaccharides and disaccharides. An excess intake of these carbs means your body can only use so much for fuel before it needs to ‘store’ the extra sugar molecules (generally as fat).
Complex carbs on the other hand take longer to break down due to their high fibre content, meaning they are used for more long lasting energy, and therefore generally not stored so easily (unless eaten in excess). They are also a rich and wonderful source of B vitamins and minerals.
Please note however that the above can vary, especially from a biochemical perspective. Fundamentally the more of a wholefood source of carbs we have, the more nutritional variety and balance we will intake. Lastly, the speed of digestion and utilisation of carbs will always be influenced by what other macronutrients are enjoyed along side it as part of a meal, along with our different metabolic requirements.
Some lovely and nutritious sources of carbohydrates are:
All fruits and vegetables (in the majority low in starch and best combined with some of the below)
cereals & grains such as whole wheat, rye, rolled oats, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, spelt, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, wild rice, barley, kumut, sweet potato, potato, legumes.
Protein foods are broken down into amino acids in the body. They are large complex molecules made up of a sizeable array of amino acids. They are essential building blocks for metabolism, muscle strength, hormone function, enzyme function and immune health to name but a few.
Some lovely and nutritious wholefood sources of protein are:
seafood, meats, eggs, legumes & pulses, tofu, tempeh, dairy such as (cow/goat/sheep) bocconcini, feta, ricotta, cottage cheese, protein powders, collagen and some nuts and seeds.
Fats are broken down into fatty acids (triglycerides) in our bodies and are vital for brain function, cell membrane health, skin health and immune function.
Types of fats include saturated, poly unsaturated and mono unsaturated fats. We do need to be mindful of not going too crazy when it comes to fat intake, however eating quality fats daily as part of a balanced dietary intake is very advantageous. Essential fats (omega3 and omega 6) cannot be made in the body from simply constituents. They must be consumed from specific food sources and then digested to make them readily available.
Trans fats are the fats we need to avoid, which are created through overheating volatile oils. Generally if you eat a wholefood diet trans fats will not be a major concern. Do be mindful however of the quality of oils you purchase along with the freshness of your nuts and seeds too.
Some lovely and nutritious sources of wholefood fats are:
seafood, especially salmon, tuna, sardines, calamari and other oily fish.
Olive Oil, flaxseed oil, macadamia nut oil, coconut oil, cold pressed avocado oil and other nut and seed oils that have not been heat treated or refined.
raw nuts and seeds and their butters
avocado and coconut
Dairy free is a term often used pertaining to avoiding the protein in milk, usually casein. These proteins are quite large, especially in cow’s milk, and as a result can be problematic to absorb (remember, this does not mean everyone!). The casein in goat and sheep’s milk is smaller in size and therefore often gentler on the digestive system.
Lactose is the carbohydrate portion of mammal milk. Lactose intolerance means that the body lacks enough of the enzyme (lactase) to breakdown lactose. Lactose is highest in raw forms of milk and lower in more processed forms. Therefore, cows milk, goats milk, sheep’s milk are quite problematic, where as small amounts of cheeses and butter from all families may be tolerable.
Gluten is protein (2 proteins actually) found in a variety of grains, of which one of these grains happens to be wheat.
Gluten containing grains are: rye, wheat, barley, oats (problematic often for coeliacs due to cross contamination), spelt, kumut, semolina, couscous, bulgur and triticum.
Wheat is a grain that just happens to also contain gluten. Wheat sensitivity can occur on its own. This means that wheat as an individual grain is problematic, NOT gluten. If you are wheat intolerant you can still have some of the grains listed above (besides spelt, bulgur, semolina, couscous and triticum which are still versions of wheat). Some people can handle spelt with no issues, however many still have upsets from this grain.
The following flours/grains are gluten free AND wheat free:
buckwheat, quinoa (technically seeds) amaranth, rice, corn meal/polenta, millet, besan flour, soy flour, sorghum, sago, lentils, tapioca, lupin.
Jessica Cox FAQ’s
In the majority, most of the recipes on the JCN website do not provide calorie or kj measurements. Some of our more current recipes do, but we generally avoid putting too much emphasis on this simply because calories and kj are only part of the story when it comes to wholefoods and quality nutritional intake.
I completed a four year Bachelor of Health Science (Nutritional Medicine) at Australian College of Natural Medicine, now known as Endeavor. I do recommend completing a Nutrition degree that will leave you with the appropriate training and qualifications. It is important to have a level of training that is recognised by Associations to ensure rebates are available for your clients, along with being eligible for insurance within your practice.
If you are passionate about following a career in nutrition and interested in private practice do be prepared, as it takes a lot of hard work and determination. However, the results are worth it! Day to day business varies between client consultations, marketing and general business upkeep. Its important to keep in mind this will vary dependent on what field of nutrition and/or dietetics you end up in in regards to your chosen career path.
Yes, I take all of my own photographs. I have a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Photography, which I studied when I first left high school at the ANU in Canberra, Australia. Photography and the arts run strongly through my bloods and it is a true love for me to be able to intertwine the passion that I have for both photography and nutrition.
You can get in touch with Jessica here to discuss collaborations in regards to your brand, product reviews, ambassadorship and sponsorship. Please ask us for a copy of Jessica’s Media Kit, which we are more than happy to email you. This may also give you an idea of how you may work together.
Please note that Jessica will work with brands that she feels fit the Jessica Cox ethos. If we feel that your brand may not be the right fit we will let you know. Of course there are so many wonderful products and companies out there doing exciting things, so if we are a great fit we look forward to hearing from you and working together!
