About Me
Yale Freedman, CNP, BASc
My Philosophy
I am a Certified Nutritional Practitioner (CNP) with a deeply detail oriented approach rooted in the harder sciences: human biochemistry, evolutionary biology, comparative anatomy, and paleoanthropology. These disciplines offer the most reliable answers about what our bodies are actually designed to need, and they form the backbone for my recommendations. I believe in a truly holistic approach, taking these hard sciences and applying them across every factor that shapes a person’s health. I stay at the cutting edge of emerging research and bring a spirit of genuine experimentation to my practice. I work with clients who are open to trying new approaches and together we pay close attention to how their body responds and make the appropriate adjustments. This perspective was not handed to me, it was forged through a multi-year journey through chronic illness that forced me to ask harder questions, dig deeper, and ultimately find answers that changed my life.
My Story
I spent six years navigating multi-system chronic illness. I had severe chronic pain, debilitating headaches from post-concussion syndrome, sinus infections, and persistent digestive issues that simply would not resolve. On paper it looked like I was doing everything right. I was eating what most people would consider an exceptionally clean diet consisting of whole foods, plenty of plants and nothing processed. The medical response was consistent, I was already eating well, therefore diet was not the issue. The conversation ended there, without anyone ever asking about what specifically I was eating, or questioning whether or not this was optimal for my health.
My intuition told me otherwise. I could feel the difference on certain days where my energy was better, my digestion was easier, and my thinking was clearer. I also began to notice consistent energy crashes after certain meals. Something was happening in my body that nobody was helping me investigate, so I decided to investigate it myself.
My Dietary Deep Dive
What began as a search for answers quickly became a deep dive into nutrition science, ancestral health, and the growing body of work that exists well outside mainstream dietary guidelines. The idea of eating like our ancestors, the foods humans actually evolved eating, really resonated with me, so I began experimenting with various ancestral diets, first starting with a paleolithic diet and eventually trying a meat-based ketogenic diet. The results were undeniable, after a few weeks my chronic pain was much more manageable, my headaches were less debilitating, and my digestion began to settle in ways it never had before.
That first breakthrough opened a door that I never stopped walking through. Over the years I experimented with AIP (auto-immune paleo), GAPS, carnivore, ketovore, and animal-based approaches, each having their own unique benefits and lessons. GAPS and carnivore in particular brought significant relief to my digestion system and helped me feel more normal than I had in years.
Beyond Food
Diet was never the only thread in my healing journey. Working with practitioners across multiple disciplines, from MDs, to physical rehabilitation specialists, to naturopathic and functional medicine support, taught me that the body rarely heals through one avenue alone. Some of these approaches provided meaningful relief, others plateaued sooner than I hoped, but each one taught me the importance of asking hard questions to really gain an understanding exactly what is going on in your body, and knowing when to look further than what is being offered.
Alongside this I explored circadian rhythm alignment, nervous system regulation, limbic system retraining, spiritual practice and yoga. Some of these were self-directed, and some were supported by practitioners and communities I encountered along the way. These were not secondary pieces of my recovery, they were essential, and they are why my approach extends well beyond nutrition into the full complexity of what a person needs to truly heal.
Getting to the Root
It was only when I began working with a CIRS practitioner through the Shoemaker Protocol, and targeting my microbiome issues directly that my healing took a truly significant leap forward. Addressing the underlying biotoxin illness and rebuilding my microbiome with targeted nutraceutical support brought me to a level of health I had not experienced in years. Diet had been foundational and giving my body the nutrition it needed was an essential step in facilitating healing and managing symptoms, but it was not the whole picture.
I share this not to discourage anyone, but to be honest. Some people will make profound changes through diet alone. Others, like me, will find that food is the essential foundation but that deeper work is needed to truly resolve what is going on. Knowing the difference, and knowing what to do about it, is at the heart of what I offer.
What this means for you
Years of chronic illness, research, self-experimentation, and working alongside some remarkable practitioners has given me a toolkit that I could not have built any other way. I know what it feels like to search for answers and not find them. I know what it feels like to be told everything looks fine when it clearly isn’t. And I know what it feels like to finally find the combination of approaches that allows your body to do what it was always designed to do.
I do not believe in one size fits all solutions. I do not have a single protocol I apply to every client. What I have is a genuine curiosity about your specific situation, a wide range of tools to draw from, and a deep commitment to finding what actually works for you, however long that takes and wherever that journey leads.