56 - Savita Sandhu (Savvy Dietetics) on Diet and Hypermobility (Part 1) Mast Cells & Diet

Key Points

• The Hypermobility Happy Hour Podcast features an interview with dietitian Sivita Sanju, focusing on the intersection of diet and hypermobility conditions like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
• Sivita shares her personal journey, discovering her own hypermobility and food sensitivities (gluten, dairy) through an elimination diet, which led to her career in dietetics.
• The discussion highlights the challenges of obtaining a hypermobility diagnosis, the importance of advocacy, and the spectrum of symptoms often overlooked in public perception.
• Sivita's practice, Savvy Dietetics, provides personalized nutrition support via telehealth, helping clients navigate complex dietary needs, gut health, and co-existing conditions like chronic pain and burnout.
• A core message is that nutrition for hypermobility doesn't need to be overwhelmingly complex and can be approached step-by-step to reduce stress and improve quality of life.

Summary

In this episode of the Hypermobility Happy Hour Podcast, host Carrie interviews dietitian Sivita Sanju from Savvy Dietetics in Brisbane, Australia. The conversation centers on the role of diet and nutrition in managing hypermobility spectrum disorders, including Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. Sivita recounts her personal health journey, which began in childhood with chronic symptoms like fatigue, pain, and post-nasal drip. At age 11, an elimination diet identified gluten and dairy as triggers, dramatically improving her health and sparking a fascination with nutritional science that led to her career.

Interestingly, Sivita was aware of hypermobility from a young age after a friend was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and she recognized the symptoms in her mother. However, she did not connect these dots to her own condition until much later, a delay she attributes to the common medical portrayal of hypermobility as involving only the most severe symptoms. She initially received a vague diagnosis of an autoimmune connective tissue disorder before later advocating for herself to obtain a hypermobility diagnosis. This experience underscores broader issues in diagnosis, including incomplete public understanding, the spectrum nature of symptoms, and the lack of diagnostic codes for conditions like Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) in some countries like the U.S.

The discussion emphasizes the critical importance of an accurate diagnosis, not only for personal validation and reducing "imposter syndrome" but also for accessing specialized care and support systems, such as Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Sivita and Carrie agree that greater awareness and refined diagnostic criteria are needed to help individuals earlier in life.

Sivita describes her clinical practice, which offers telehealth services worldwide. She helps clients, particularly those with hypermobility, chronic pain, burnout, and women's health issues, through comprehensive assessments focusing on medical history, nutrient deficiencies, digestive symptoms, and diet. She aims to simplify the often-overwhelming process of dietary management, advocating for a practical, step-by-step approach to nutrition that reduces stress rather than adding to it. The episode concludes with a reinforcement of the podcast's community-building role and an invitation for listeners to engage, highlighting the value of shared understanding and professional guidance in navigating life with hypermobility.