I am still a photographer.
Photography is still a central part of my life and work. Healing is what made it possible for me to return to it with energy, perspective, and the option to keep doing it full time if I want to.
Nutrition did not replace photography. It grew alongside it. The difference is that illness changed the kind of work I felt drawn to make public. I wanted a place to share what I learned and to support people dealing with the quieter, less-visible parts of recovery.
If you are curious, you can still view my photography work at dave-blake.com .
Illness changed the questions I was asking.
My interest in kidney and gut health became much more personal after living through lupus nephritis. That experience changed the way I think about health care, recovery, and the gap between acute medical treatment and the slower process of rebuilding a life.
It pushed me toward deeper questions about food, sleep, nervous system regulation, stress, routine, sunlight, microbiome repair, and how people make progress when they are not starting from a place of perfect capacity.
I write more about that in Healing Lupus Nephritis , but the short version is simple: this is not a random niche for me. It is part of why the practice exists at all.
Healing gave me my life back.
One of the reasons this work matters so much to me is that recovery did not just change lab numbers. It gave me my life back. It meant I could return to photography, return to creative work, and feel like myself again.
That matters because I do not think healing should be framed only as symptom management. Sometimes it is also about whether you get to come back to the parts of your life that make you feel fully alive.
Study gave the practice structure.
I am completing a Bachelor of Health Science (Clinical Nutrition) in Australia. Study matters because it gives the practice a framework: evidence, scope, boundaries, and a better standard for translating nutrition science into language people can actually use.
Lived experience can sharpen your attention, but it does not replace formal training. I want both in the room: the discipline of study and the perspective of someone who has had to ask these questions under real pressure.
Why this practice exists.
A lot of people do not fall through the cracks because nobody cares. They fall through because the system is busy, acute care has different priorities, and the slower work of rebuilding is not always well-held.
I wanted to make something for that space: writing that helps people think more clearly, and telehealth support for people who want practical guidance without hype, noise, or false certainty.
What I want this practice to feel like.
I am not interested in noisy wellness branding, exaggerated promises, or turning every health question into a supplement stack. I want the practice to feel more like a calm clinical reading surface than a funnel.
- Food-first before complexity.
- Measured claims instead of inflated certainty.
- Practical advice that can survive normal life.
- Clear boundaries around what nutrition can and cannot do.
- Education that still has value even if you never become a client.
How the practice works.
The practice is built around telehealth and writing. That means two clear entry points: you can read through the archive to get a feel for how I think, or you can book one-to-one support if you want practical help applying that thinking to your own situation.
The work itself is educational, food-first, and designed to sit alongside medical care. I am especially interested in the overlap between gut health, kidney-aware nutrition, metabolic foundations, and the day-to-day conditions that make recovery or stability more possible.