Arming your body to cope with work

Formerly a corporate coach, Mr Tranquille became interested in nutrition because of his own health. During his teens and 20s, he suffered with migraines, which worsened 10 years ago to the point where he was getting one a week.

He said: "A friend suggested my diet might have been the cause. I thought I was eating all the major food groups - fast food, crisps and chocolate. The following week after another migraine, I decided to go see a nutritionist.

"Four weeks passed following her advice and for a whole month I was pain free. It was amazing. I was a true convert who started to dispense my new found nutritional knowledge to everyone in the office.

"Over time I worked with the nutritionist to reduce lots of my other symptoms of ill health like bloating, constipation, eczema and joint pain. That was back in 2000 and after working with the nutritionist for about eight months, I decided that this stuff had changed my life and I wanted to train in the profession. I qualified in 2005 and have been practising nutrition in Canary Wharf since 2006."

Mr Tranquille said workplace health particularly interested him. He said advances in modern medicine over the last 100 years meant that people had less risk dying of infections and viruses and the great health concerns now centred on diet and lifestyle issues.

He said: "Your body is not a static thing. Many of its cells are being replaced with new cells on a regular basis.

"These new cells need to be made from something, and that something in simple terms is the food you eat. This 2010 version of your body was built from the things that you have eaten.

"Many of our clients in the City and Canary Wharf are busy professionals leading full-on lives. They haven't got the time to read all the latest research on health and want someone to make sense of it for them. My advice to busy professionals often involves the 80:20 rule - if you are in a situation where there are no healthy choices, don't beat yourself up. It's what you do most of the time which affects the results."

Employee wellbeing is increasingly becoming a hot topic for businesses and HR departments across the capital.

Mr Tranquille said: "Employees are working harder and longer hours and need additional support. The evidence is there to suggest that corporate wellbeing programmes have a positive effect on the bottom-line as well as reducing absenteeism and sick days.

"Our typical individual client used to be female aged 28 to 48, but now we are seeing larger numbers of men.

"Generally people see me because they are fed up with suffering from low energy levels, digestive problems such as IBS, bloating or constipation, food intolerances or weight loss and sometimes all of the above.

"The advice we give people is totally individual there's no one-size-fits-all approach.

"We specialise in simple, sensible, advice with an emphasis on small changes for big impact."

UrBod Nutrition has clinics in Canary Wharf and the City. Both offer free 30 minute taster sessions.

Go to urbod.co.uk