What happens in your first AMAYUSH consultation

People often arrive slightly guarded, expecting to be weighed, handed a diet chart and lectured about ghee. That is not what this is, and the difference matters enough to explain before you book.

Before you arrive: what to carry

Bring your most recent blood work and the set before it, if you have them. Older reports are not useless. The direction a number has been travelling over two years tells me more than a single reading from last week.

Useful reports, where they exist, include a complete blood count, fasting glucose and HbA1c, a lipid profile, thyroid function with TSH and free T4, vitamin D, vitamin B12, ferritin, and liver and kidney function. For hormonal concerns, any ultrasound and hormone panels. If you have none of these, come anyway. Part of the first consultation is deciding what is actually worth testing rather than ordering everything.

Also carry a list of every medicine and supplement you take, including the ones you take irregularly, and the questions you have been carrying. People routinely forget their real question until the last five minutes. Write it down.

The first part: your story, not your diet

The opening stretch is about your life. When you wake, when you actually eat rather than when you intend to, what happens between meals, how you sleep and whether you wake in the night, what your work does to you, how your digestion behaves, and for women, what your cycle does.

Then comes the question that surprises almost everybody: what was going on in your life during the months your symptoms first appeared. A bereavement, a move, a job change, a difficult year at home. Symptoms rarely begin in a vacuum, and this answer often reframes the entire case. People sometimes get emotional here. That is welcome, and there is time for it.

The middle: reading your reports properly

We go through your reports together, out loud, in language you can repeat to your family afterwards. Not just which values are flagged, but what they mean together, which ones are drifting in a direction worth watching even though they are still within range, and which ones are honestly fine despite the alarming colour on the printout.

You are allowed to ask why as many times as you need to. Most people have never had anyone explain their own reports to them, and leaving with that understanding alone changes how you make decisions for years.

The last part: what actually changes first

By this point the picture is usually clear enough to say what is driving your symptoms, what can realistically change, in what order, and over what timeframe. Not fifteen changes. Two or three, chosen because they carry the most weight for your specific case, and sequenced so the second one is easier because of the first.

You will also hear what is unlikely to change quickly, and where a doctor rather than a nutritionist needs to lead. Being clear about the limits of food is part of the job.

What you will not get

• No shaming about what you have been eating. You already know what you ate. Guilt has never changed a single lab value.
• No printed chart handed over at the door. A chart written before I understand your kitchen, your work hours and your family is a chart you will abandon in ten days.
• No pressure to sign up for anything at the end of the hour.
• No promise that food alone will replace medication you need. Where that becomes possible, it happens gradually and with your treating doctor.

What you leave with

An honest reading of what is driving your symptoms. The two or three changes that matter most, in order. What tests, if any, are worth doing before we go further. A realistic timeline for the reports you care about. And a clear description of what a full program would involve, if you decide to continue.

If I believe this approach is not right for your case, or that you need a specialist first, I will say so in that conversation rather than after you have paid for a program.

How the follow up works

If you continue, the plan is built after the consultation, once I have thought about your case, and it is built around your existing kitchen rather than a template. Reviews follow at intervals suited to your condition, and the plan is adjusted on what your body actually did, not on what it was supposed to do. Between reviews you can ask questions, because the confusing moments happen on ordinary Tuesdays, not on review day.

Online or in person

Both work. Online consultations run exactly the same way and are how most clients outside Mumbai are seen. For online sessions, share your reports at least a day in advance so the time is spent discussing them rather than reading them. Sit somewhere you can speak freely. The conversation goes places a public place makes difficult.

One hour, and a clear view of your own body. That is the whole promise. When you are ready, book your first consultation, or read what other people found on the other side of it.

Frequently asked questions

What should I bring to my first nutrition consultation?

Your most recent blood work and the set before it, a list of all medicines and supplements including the irregular ones, and your written questions. If you have no reports at all, come anyway. Part of the first session is deciding what is genuinely worth testing.

How long does the first consultation take?

About an hour. Most of it is spent on your history, your day and your reports rather than on a diet chart, because the plan that follows is only as good as the understanding behind it.

Will I be given a diet chart on the same day?

No, and that is deliberate. A chart written before your kitchen, your work hours and your family are understood is a chart you abandon within ten days. The plan is built after the consultation, around the way you already cook and eat.

Do you consult online?

Yes. Online consultations run exactly the same way and are how most clients outside Mumbai are seen. Share your reports at least a day in advance and sit somewhere you can speak freely.

Can nutrition replace my medication?

Sometimes it reduces the need for it, and that always happens gradually and with your treating doctor holding the decision. No medication should be stopped or lowered on the strength of a nutrition plan alone.

What if my case is not suitable for this approach?

Then you will be told so in that conversation, before any program is discussed, along with what kind of specialist to see instead.

This article is general nutrition education, not a diagnosis or a prescription. Nothing here replaces your treating doctor, and no medication should be changed without them. Last reviewed by Jinal Vora on 28 Aug 2026.