The Short (& 'Official') Version 🙋🏻‍♀️

Hi there, I'm Vivien Allred, a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist & Mindset Coach specialising in gut & hormonal health. After struggling with a laundry list of chronic health issues in early adulthood (inc chronic fatigue, joint pain, PCOS, cystic acne, hair loss, IBS, MCAS & more), I began studying natural healing modalities & graduated from the highly respected College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) in 2017 after completing a 3 year diploma. 

That same year I founded my business Viva Natural Health & began supporting clients online. I also did further work with CNM, volunteering as a clinic supervisor for a year & I also lectured on the Women's Health module several times for the final year students.

After a few more years & hundreds of hours of additional professional development, courses, research etc, I was finally able to overcome my health struggles & now live my dream life! Now my mission in life is to help as many women as possible do the same ❤️

I'm the host of the Hormones in Harmony podcast (check it out!🎙) & have released pretty much weekly episodes since 2019 & you can currently get my help through a range of different services from affordable 'learn at your own speed' courses, to higher support options including group programs & 1:1 coaching

The Longer ('Let's Get Personal') Version 😉

Growing up, I was that kid who was never off school sick, didn't ever have to take antibiotics & could eat anything I wanted with no repercussions. In my teenage years I had tons of energy, glossy hair & flawless skin.

But that all changed when I was 17.

After leaving school, I found myself not being as active as I previously was, which led me to feel a bit more self conscious about my body. Looking back, I didn't actually have anything to worry about as I was a healthy weight, but I was obviously influenced by what media believes to be the 'perfect body'.

This led me to join my local gym & 'eat healthier' which started off well, but I started taking it to the extreme. My (almost daily) 2 hour, cardio based workouts were fuelled by high fibre cereal with skimmed milk, plain chicken salads & other low calorie foods.

I was just ASKING FOR hormonal problems now that I think about it 🤦🏻‍♀️

Within a few months I had developed cystic acne, my hair was starting to fall out & my previously regular period went MIA. On the outside I looked 'great', but on the inside I felt terrible.

It was my mum who forced me to visit my GP, but after ZERO questioning around my diet & lifestyle, I was given a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) & the doctor told that the birth control pill was really my only option to manage symptoms.

So obviously I started taking it! I was desperate to stop the hair loss & acne. Honestly, I didn't really care about the missing periods.

The first couple weeks were HORRIBLE. I developed severe depression within days & my acne worsened, so I tried another brand, which didn't seem to give me any problems & successfully 'managed' my symptoms (in the short term, that is).

When I was 19 I went to work at a kids summer camp in the USA as a yoga & aerobics instructor. 

Every day I was teaching fitness classes in the extreme summer heat & we'd be working from 6am-midnight most days. On top of that, I was still in my 'healthy eating' phase, which is near enough IMPOSSIBLE to do in a place like this (think pizza, burgers, fries, candy), so I was massively under-eating during this time.

In the final week I had terrible food poisoning & then again on my trip to New York city after camp ended.

I was also bitten head to toe, over 50 times, by a mosquito.

Fun trip, right?! 😅

When I got home after an additional 2 week stay in NYC, things took a turn for the worse & my health started to rapidly decline.

I started to get extremely bloated, even after drinking water! I'd have random panic attacks, after never struggling with anxiety in my life. After eating, I would get crazy histamine responses which caused me to feel very dizzy & itchy.

I knew something was wrong & went to see several doctors but they just put it down to 'stress' & one even gastroenterologist told me that 'everyone gets bloated after eating...it's normal'.

This just didn't make sense to me, so I went to see a Nutritional Therapist, who actually listened to my issues & helped me to run some private lab tests which showed that I had several nutrient deficiencies, thyroid stress, low stomach acid, suppressed immunity, small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), candida + parasites.

FINALLY I had some answers! 🙌🏼

She also informed me of the harmful effects of the birth control pill I was on & helped me to transition off it (but my period didn't actually return for 2 YEARS, because my body was so messed up).

Despite knowing what was contributing to my symptoms, I was struggling to heal.

It felt like I couldn't eat anything without having a negative reaction. My acne & hair loss came back with a vengeance around 3 months after stopping the pill. I ended up losing a lot of weight, this time not for vanity reasons, it was literally because I was scared to eat anything & what I DID eat, I wasn't even fully absorbing.

I tried a million different 'gut healing' protocols, which always helped me feel better in the moment, but symptoms would return as soon as I'd stop. Liver supportive supplements always relieved some symptoms, but I knew it wasn't 'normal' to have to rely on them for the rest of my life.

I knew something deeper was going on. Something was getting in the way of my healing...

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I don't know about you, but I believe that everything happens for a reason & the 'universe' is constantly sending us people/situations/messages to guide us in the right direction.

This is exactly what happened with my health journey. 

Fast forward several years, I was now 25 & a qualified Nutritional Therapist myself (I had been inspired to study for 3 years at the College of Naturopathic Medicine).

With my knowledge & persistence, I'd gotten to the point where I was 'managing' things ok. My period had returned & my skin was slightly better but I was stuck on a really restrictive low histamine, organic, gluten/dairy/nightshade free diet, had to spend thousands of £££ on supplements every month & be in bed by 9.30pm every night.

My weight had also gone to the other end of the spectrum where I was carrying a lot of inflammation weight & excess body fat, that just wouldn't budge.

I started to see posts on Instagram & hear health podcasts discussing a certain subject I hadn't known much about. I even got invited to a special seminar in London, out of the blue. Everything started to point to...

🦠 MOLD TOXICITY 🦠

I could relate to pretty much everything I was seeing...

😫 Having a long list of health issues despite living a 'healthy' lifestyle

🤧 Struggling with histamine/mast cell related symptoms

🏠 Living in an old house (built in 1900's), that had a musty smell & a previous water leak

🤔 Other people in the household having their own health issues

🤷🏻‍♀️ Being unable to fully 'heal my gut' or detox my liver

THIS WAS IT - THE MISSING PUZZLE PIECE OF MY HEALTH JOURNEY 🤯 🧩

As an attendee of the seminar, I received a complimentary urine test that helps to investigate mold toxicity & my results were OFF THE CHARTS HIGH!

What I learned about toxic mold was that until the air quality had been addressed, it would be very difficult to heal. Good thing was that I was already planning on moving a few months later, so in June 2020 I got the keys to my new apartment & finally started to heal.

⚖️ I lost 18kg/40lbs effortlessly

🪞My skin finally cleared

🧀 I was able to reverse most of my food sensitivities (I still remain gluten free by choice)

🧠 My brain actually WORKS again 😂

I honestly feel like a different person. I'm happier & healthier than I've ever been.

I share everything I did to recover from this condition in my online course 'Mold Recovery', because I went DEEEP into the research & discovered that this is a huge overlooked problem that affects people worldwide.

But now my goal is EDUCATION & helping individuals like YOU identify & address the root causes of their health issues.

Mold may be a factor for you, but it may not be. We'll use functional lab testing & go deep into your health history & current symptom presentation to figure out whats holding you back from optimal health

In 2023 I also did further training to become a certified life coach, hypnosis & EFT practitioner because I realised the importance of addressing the subconscious mind & any limiting beliefs, suppressed emotions when working to heal the body. This helped to take my health to the next level 🙌🏼 (it just keeps getting better lol) & I also now use these tools on clients with great success!

Ready for YOUR transformation? Click here! 🚨

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If you made it this far THANK YOU for reading!

Here are a few more fun facts about me👇🏼

🇬🇧 I'm from the North-West of England, just outside of Manchester

🌿 I LOVE NATURE - sitting in the sun, wild swimming, grounding, hiking

♍️ If you're into Astrology - I'm Virgo sun, Aries moon, Libra rising

🎶 My music taste is very diverse - I love Harry Styles, Elvis, Miguel, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye & Rihanna

🤓 I'm a bit of a geek & often spend my free time reading about the human body