One of Kim’s closest friends was over visiting from NZ and Kim instantly saw an opportunity to interview the gorgeous Marnie Perkinson- especially as she is a runner, nutritionist and lover of all things natural. Her story will resonate with many UFAC listeners as her story is around being a top runner dealing with chronic fatigue and her search to find answers that modern medicine simply could not give her. Marnie is an avid researcher, has set up her own website and blog and is a phenomenal television presenter and educator. Here’s a little more on her background.

Marnie Perkinson had been dealing with Post Viral Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for almost a decade. Having been a National Aerobics medalist, NZ representative Mountain Runner, and 2hr41min Marathoner with Olympic aspirations, she quickly realised that when you don’t have energy, life becomes a struggle and the positive, ‘anything’s possible’ person she once knew herself to be, became almost unrecognisable.

On the upside, this set her on a journey where – utilising her Post Graduate Nutrition Degree – she set out to learn as much as possible about her condition. Unfortunately, traditional Nutritional Science and Western Medicine offered little useful advice in this area at the time, so Marnie also sorts out ‘alternative’ health fields, in order to get to the bottom of this lack of perkiness and energy.

Through this process, she gained insightful information from:

Naturopaths, Craniosacral Practitioners, Sleep Specialists, Life Coaches, Psychologists, Chronic Fatigue Medical Specialists, Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Osteopaths, Biomedical Nutritionists, Herbalists, Integrative Medical Practitioners, Yoga and Meditation Gurus.

She also become an accredited Fitgenes practitioner, and believes that Epigenetics – the study of how we can modify the way our genes are expressed – will provide incredibly useful information to tailor advice in the future. It then becomes less about the hand you were dealt (your inherited genes), but whether you are allowing these genes to negatively affect you, through the food you eat, your living situation, who you interact with, your sleep patterns, how you exercise etc.

Marnie also strongly backs the ‘movement’ that gut health is the key to our physical and mental wellbeing. This theory is not new of course, with Hippocrates – the father of modern medicine – proclaiming that “All health begins in the gut”. The only difference today is there is growing scientific evidence to back this theory.

She believes that learning how to reduce the chemical insult to our immune systems, from our food, water, skincare, cleaners and medicines (the list goes on), will also go a long way in helping to feel our healthiest and most vibrant selves.

You can follow Marnie on her website and social media at www.perky.nz