About

Maev Creaven (Bach. Engineering, Post Grad. Dip Nutritional Therapy, mNTOI, mIFM)

Owner: Maev Creaven Nutrition.

Director: Founder of Ireland’s Functional Medicine Conference.

I’m a whole-food based Nutritional Therapist, specialised in the fields of Functional Medicine and Nutrition with focus on a holistic lifestyle approach to optimising health and wellbeing.

Dual-trained in nutrition and electronic engineering, Maev is a fully qualified certified Nutritional Therapist since 2006 and has undertaken various teaching roles in nutrition at Irish colleges on their accredited nutritional therapy diploma courses. 

Maev attends Continuing Medical Educational (CME / CPD) events in the USA and UK regularly hosted by various training providers and organisations, learning from the best researchers and experts in the field. Maev is on her way to earning the board Certification in Functional Medicine via The Institute for Functional Medicine in the USA.

“My holistic approach to health and wellness is unique. I blend my years of working as a clinical nutritionist, engineer with my yoga practice. My private consultancy and health programmes help clients establish balance not only in their body but their minds.”

For years I was confused (and later frustrated) with the contradictory diets and theories on health and nutrition and cringe when reading well known health magazines on what is being taught as “healthy” to the public. 

Practitioners trained in functional medicine believe that dysfunction at the physiological, physical, cognitive and psychological levels preceded the onset of disease, and that a better understanding (and quantitation) of function from a whole-person, systems approach could provide the operating system to help someone feel their best and overcome and or prevent chronic disease.

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I unravel the complexity so you don’t have to: I’ll help you find the root cause of your main health concern and create simple, realistic strategies you can use right away. I can review existing lab results, order others and help tie up loose ends in your current plan.

Marketing is a powerful tool and it is far too easy for anyone to get carried away with a hype around the latest news / papers published. It is always important to ask key questions to weed out drama from real results. The big question is whether a study shows causation or just correlation or could anything else explain the results? There are so many angles!

Therefore, I have developed this website as an information point where, you and my clients can come to learn the facts about evidence based nutrition. I am deeply passionate about education, research and promoting healthier lifestyles. Working as a Nutritional Therapist is extremely rewarding, and especially when working with clients whom are open and willing to make small changes, and create new healthy ( and enjoyable) habits.

I have many interests when it comes to health and nutrition, from detox [biotransformation!] to energy production, inflammatory disorders to digestive health, body fat loss to female hormones. 

How Did I Get into Nutrition

How did I get into nutrition? There are a few answers! One of the reason for my departure from a Software Engineering was after experiencing one of those ‘A-Ha’ moments travelling through magical Central America, I always knew deep down that there was more to my career than programming, which lead me to extend my sabbatical and live in Guatemala and Mexico City  for 3 years. This enabled me to explore other cultures and passions from yoga and the art to health! Definitely one of my top ten experiences to date!

The real pivotal moment was when I got sick (in Guatemala).  But along this journey I seeked out advice from local doctors , naturopaths, healers and nutritionists and had some of the most inspiring conversations! I attended several sessions with a Naturopathic Doctor whom offered me advice on food, diet and lifestyle. He showed me how to address the root cause of (my) dis-ease. I became very conscious on how food affected my body and mind. Upon my return to Ireland I searched for an appropriate training in UK and Ireland where I could learn more about nutrition, biochemistry and pathophysiology. I was hungry for learning yet wanted to choose a course that was both therapeutic and science based, not just looking at foods, but reviewing lifestyle and environment and stuck in old dogma and research. I love studying, researching and taking time to think. I did not realise how ‘unhealthy’ I was until I started to reach peak health and fitness through eating well, supporting my digestion/immune balance, and looking after myself via lifestyle, yoga and movement. 

What I always highlight with each client is that it takes time and self discovery to adapt to a healthier lifestyle, hence the main reason why I offer three and six month plans. (How can one session sort out chronic symptoms?) But in the end it is creating a healthier relationship between you, your food, your body and your way of life. I am passionate about living life to the fullest and enjoying its fruits – we all work hard enough! It is a prerequisite with each client that she/he enjoys the process and to work in a partnership. The key is to finding out what works for you, focus on your strengths, add in some science and it will all come together.

My other interests: reading, travelling, yoga, road biking [good weather!],  good wine and chilling with friends and family in my favourite foodie haunts

Since 2016, I incorporated The Lifestyle and Functional MedicineConference trading as FxMed Ireland (Functional Medicine Ireland) . I invite world class speakers to Ireland to offer their gifts, thoughts and research. Each year we are supported by national and international exhibitors and sponsors that aligned with my conferences values and mission. See below image from 2018.

 I am working towards Certification in Functional Medicine at the Institute for Functional Medicine.

Professional Associations: 

• The Institute for Functional Medicine & Nutritional Therapists of Ireland
• Registered with The NTOI (Nutritional Therapy of Ireland), and a member of The Institute of Functional Medicine.

• New England Journal of Medicine
• Journal of the American Medical Association
• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• The Lancet
• British Medical Journal–All articles of BMJ are available for free online–a tremendous resource.