Jacqueline Birtwisle

Specialist Eating Disorder Dietitian


Jacqueline is a Registered Dietitian specialising in the clinical and performance aspects of sport and exercise nutrition. She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), a member of the British Dietetic Association (BDA), the BDA Mental Health Specialist Group and the BDA Gastroenterology Specialist Group. Jacqueline qualified with a BSc in Dietetics with State Registration from Leeds Polytechnic in 1990 and gained her MA in Working with people with Eating Disorders from the Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust in 2011. In 2014, she undertook a post-graduate course at Kings College London in the use of the low FODMAPs diet for the effective treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.

Jacqueline is a Registered Dietitian specialising in the clinical and performance aspects of sport and exercise nutrition. She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), a member of the British Dietetic Association (BDA), the BDA Mental Health Specialist Group and the BDA Gastroenterology Specialist Group. Jacqueline qualified with a BSc in Dietetics with State Registration from Leeds Polytechnic in 1990 and gained her MA in Working with people with Eating Disorders from the Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust in 2011. In 2014, she undertook a post-graduate course at Kings College London in the use of the low FODMAPs diet for the effective treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.

Jacqueline lectured at the University of Surrey, where she led a unit on their MSc in Nutritional Medicine, she has also lectured on the post-graduate ‘Science and Medicine of Athletic Performance’ at Oxford University and continues to be a visiting lecturer at University College London.

Jacqueline started her clinical dietetics career at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where she specialised in gastroenterology and co-ordinated the nutrition training of medical students. As a junior Jacqueline was a talented athlete and this combined with her work with the Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club motivated her to establish her private practice in 1998 where her focus became elite sports nutrition. Jacqueline has worked across both Olympic and Professional Sports, her clients including GB Rowing, GB Diving, UK Athletics, Wimbledon FC and Leicester RFC. During this time, Jacqueline was employed as Consultant Dietitian at the Olympic Medical Institute, where she provided clinical and sports nutrition advice across all Olympic disciplines and travelled to Sydney, Athens and Beijing to establish nutritional provision at GB holding camps.

Jacqueline’s interest in performance nutrition also encompasses the Arts – she guest teaches nutrition at the Centre of Advanced Training at The Place and regularly at the Central School of Ballet. She is the consulting dietitian at the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera House. A turning point in Jacqueline’s career came with the realisation that a major part of her work was advising athletes in disciplines such as triathlon, dance, running, boxing and lightweight rowing, whose health and careers were being adversely affected by dysfunctional eating.

Jacqueline’s approach when working with clients is with honesty and common sense offering practical solutions based on what is achievable for each client as they work through their eating issues.

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