Emilie Berthet Clairet was a medical doctor in France and moved to Hong Kong in 2008. She decided to start her own business: Holistic Health after she was diagnosed with breath cancer and turned to a more complementary and holistic health approach during the treatment. Since then, she has believed being healthy is is what we all strive for. She talks to Ritzy about her business, her wellness journey as a medical doctor and nutritionist and her hopes for the future.
1) Can you tell us more about yourself and your background?
I am French and was a medical doctor specializing in Bacteriology in France. I moved to Hong Kong pregnant in 2008 with my first son and in a few years had 2 other sons, so I took a break from work. Then I worked as a fitness instructor for a few years, which gave me the flexibility to take care of my children. I studied nutrition first by interest, as my son stopped eating solid food for a year, and I needed to know how to adapt his diet to be as healthy as possible, despite swallowing very little food. I was diagnosed with breath cancer in 2018 and turned to a more complementary and holistic health approach during the treatment. This was when Emilie Berthet Clairet – Holistic Health started.
2) What inspires you to start the Emilie Berthet Clairet – Holistic Health？
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I have always been sensitive to the fact that we are more than just a patient following medical protocols. When we are sick, our lifestyle and mental health significantly impact our recovery. This is what I experienced when being treated for breast cancer. I developed an interest in a more holistic approach to health than what I learned as a western medical doctor. As a former bacteriologist, my practice as a holistic nutritionist focused more on intestinal flora and its strong impact on our health. I work now with patients who present a gut imbalance and guide them to rebalance their health and lifestyle. Many of my patients had a good diet and lifestyle yet struggled to rebalance their gut because they didn’t address their constant anxiety. Hypnotherapy is a fantastic tool to understand and explore all that. It was a natural move for me to train as a clinical hypnotherapist. Being healthy is a very general and broad concept, but it is what we all strive for. Health involves many different aspects, and you can’t approach it from only one angle. It is about diet and lifestyle, of course, but also about dealing with stress. In my practice, I try my best to guide people to find their way to be healthy with the different tools I acquired over the years, from medical doctor to holistic nutritionist, to clinical hypnotherapist.
3) As a medical doctor and nutritionist, how do you stay healthy?
I try my best to hear my body’s needs while keeping my mind happy. We all know what a healthy diet is and what a healthy lifestyle is. I keep this balance with enjoying life. I don’t follow a specific diet and listen to what my body asks. I avoid processed food as much as possible and don’t eat much meat because it suits me better. I exercise regularly, but with no specific schedule. I had major surgery with mammectomy reconstruction for breast cancer, so it was important that I followed my body to give it time to recover for the past few years before doing too intense exercise. Doing Pilates regularly has been a great exercise for my recovery.
4) What are your goals in 2023 in your wellness journey?
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Wellness is a journey; for 2023, my goal is to work more and more on reconnecting my body and mind and finding the balance between listening to my body’s needs and keeping my mind happy. I tend to be anxious and stressed by small things; this is something I want to work on more. Healthy mind, healthy body. We have a lot more power over our health than we think. By reconnecting to our inner self, we also reconnect our minds to listen to our bodies and their needs, which is the pillar of our health.
5) How do you make yourself happy and ritzy in life?
Happiness comes from within, so doing something you love makes you happy. I meditate regularly, which allows me to slow down, reduce my natural anxiety, and enjoy life. Meditation is not always still with eyes closed. For me, it can be different things: hiking alone in nature, enjoying a coffee and looking at the sea. I live next to the beach, so it’s easy! I also love dancing and teaching Zumba to express myself through dancing. I also love my time at home and with my family.
