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Adele Van Der Merwe (Nutrition and Cancer)

Adele vd Merwe has obtained her degree in B.Sc Dietetics from the University of Potchefstroom and then went on to complete her Post Graduate Diploma in Dietetics at the University of Pretoria.

She started working at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital as junior dietitian. During her 7 years there she has qualified as a Principal Dietitian and has worked in all areas of dietetics, but her interest remained in the nutrition of cancer.

This led to the book "Coping with Cancer the Nutritional way".

Adele has also worked in sales as a sales dietitian for a medical nutrition company. She is currently working as a private dietitian at Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Jhb, dealing mostly with cancer and surgery of the gastro-intestinal tract.

Andrea Kellerman

(B.A., H.E.D., Psych Hon, Med. Psych., NF Practitioner, Adv. Dip. Hyp., Practice number: 791953, Member of S.A.M.H.F. (SA Modern Hypnotherapy Foundation), training validated by GHsc (General Hypnotherapy Standards Council of Great Britain)

Andrea is an educational Psychologist in private practice. She has formerly worked as a qualified teacher and has lectured and taught children and adults at school, college and university level. After having studied Psychology, Hypnotherapy and Neurofeedback, she worked in hospitals, a crisis centre and private practice where she has helped many people who suffer from anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, eating disorders, concentration problems, ADD/ADHD, people who needed to stop smoking, lose weight and reduce phobias.

Furthermore, Andrea has helped many athletes to increase their sporting performance, achieving great success. Andrea was a member of the German National Vaulting team when she was younger and has won many titles, such as first places in German, International, Open American Championships and second places in the European and World Championships. Her sporting career and studies in the fields of Psychology, Biokinetics and Human Movement Science have given her unique knowledge and insight to work with and helped many athletes to achieve outstanding results such as winning the Duzi, gold medals in National and international golf, gymnastics, swimming, cycling, BMX and Triathlon events and winning rugby and soccer games.

She is the co- founder of the EQ Advantedge Course and has worked hard to get the course to as many schools and children as possible.

Andrea has written numerous articles for different magazines and newspapers, such as the Sunday Times, Weigh-less Magazine, East Coast Radio Lifestyle Magazine, Breathe Magazine and many others. She has been interviewed by national and international radio and TV programs for the last 20 years. Furthermore, she has given educational talks in different settings and is actively involved in growing the field of Neurofeedback, Hypnotherapy and Emotional Intelligence.

Brigitte Oswell

I am a registered dietician and completed my degree in 2005 at UKZN. I then went on to complete my community service at a rural hospital in Northern KZN. It was during this time that I realised I had a passion for educating communities and educating them on nutrition as a way to improve their health and their lifestyles.

After completing my community service I carried on working as a dietician in the public sector for 4 years. In-between those 4 years I did a short stint working for the NHS in the UK which allowed me to further my experience, both within a professional and cultural sense.

As a result of my passion for the improved health and knowledge of our communities I enrolled in a part time masters. I am busy completing my masters in public health through UNISA. My interest is in preventing lifestyle diseases and educating the public on such issues.

I am part of the Association for Dieticians in South Africa as well as the Diabetes Education Society of South Africa. I sit on both the committees for these provincial branches. It allows me to network and establish relationships with key people in the field of nutrition and health.

I have now joined the Future Life team as their dietician for KZN

Danielle Roberts

• I am a qualified chef (City & Guilds) and a registered dietitian,(UKZN), completing my honours internship for Post-graduate Dietetics at various government hospitals in KZN. I was awarded the Africa Food Systems Scholarship award, and the Russell Trophy for Top Dietetics Student 2004 & 2005, and received a scholarship in 2006 for excellence in studies.
• I moved into the private hospital sector, working for catering companies designing menus, training hospital staff and counselling patients on diet needs. In 2009, I opened a private practice which I am currently doing, as well as consulting with various corporate companies on health and wellness days, and consulting with the Sharks Rugby team.
• 'You are what you eat' is a motto I believe in. Good nutrition as part of your daily lifestyle helps create peak physical form and better health. Eating correctly for your body can get you to your goals; and improve your quality of life.

Liesbet Delport

Liesbet was born in Paarl (Western Cape), but spent the greatest part of her childhood in Oudtshoorn (Little Karoo), where she matriculated in 1977 with an A-aggregate. She obtained her B Sc-degree in Dietetics from the University of Stellenbosch in 1981 and completed the diploma in Hospital Dietetics in 1982 at Tygerberg Hospital, cum laude en best student. She has recently obtained her Masters in Dietetics at the University of Pretoria.

She is a Registered Dietician (RD) and opened a private practice in Sabie, Mpumalanga in 1983. She continued her private practice in Nelspruit, when they moved there in 1987 and formed a group practice (Diet Pro) with two other dieticians in August 2001. She has been in private practice for almost 25 years now. She visited the International Diabetes Institute in Australia in 1996, after which she started to specialize in the Glycemic Index (GI) and blood glucose control, which is of great value to the overweight, persons suffering from diabetes, hypoglycemia, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, chronic candida infections, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), FMS, ME, children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), sportsmen and anybody wishing to have sustained energy. She has completed the CDE Diabetes Educators Course, as well as a course in food allergies.

Lisa Raleigh

Lisa Raleigh is best known as the trainer on SA's The Biggest Loser and is involved in a few new up and coming TV shows on lifestyle makeovers and wellbeing.

Lisa has been an exercise specialist for 10 years and currently has her Lisa Raleigh Weightloss and Wellness clinic in Durban as well as two licenses in both Newlands, Cape Town and Fourways, Jhb. Here she specialises in weightloss, obesity, digestion, stress management and has a variety of wellness programmes.

Lisa also coaches people through an empowering entrepreneurial programme where they learn how to own their own wellness business to become financially fit as well. This completes her life's mission.

Lisa speaks on radio weekly, at many workshops and events and writes for magazines and newspapers countrywide.

She's the reason for Darren Scott's and Sam Cowen's recent life transformations and has many celebrity clients in South Africa who are eager to follow her unique approach to wellness

Michelle Bristow

I am a registered dietician and completed my degree in dietetics at the University of Stellenbosch in 1998. My career initially focused on clinical dietetics. I worked and managed in a number of tertiary academic institutions (John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, Inkosi Albert Luthuli hospital, Durban). During my time at Oxford I became involved with the Oxford rowers (as their dietitian) and this fuelled my passion for sports nutrition and healthy living. From then onwards until the present time my main interest has shifted from clinical hospital based dietetics to sports nutrition. I have participated in a number of endurance sporting events such as ironman, mountain biking, long distance running, adventure racing etc. This gives me a good understanding of the nutritional and practical needs are of an athlete...... so I practice what I preach.

My second passion is education. I have been involved in lectures provincially, nationally and internationally and really enjoy sharing my knowledge with my audience.

FutureLife is an awesome brand and affords me the opportunity to be involved in both my passions namely sport (healthy living) and education. I head up a dynamic team of nutrition experts at FutureLife and we would love to hear from you. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments on michelle@futurelife.co.za

Natalie Victor

I am a registered dietitian & qualified fitness professional that not only has a keen interest in sports nutrition but also in diseases of lifestyle and obesity. My career initially focused on the fitness aspect of healthy living however I craved a higher level of understanding around nutrition and this spurred me on to attain a degree in dietetics. My previous experience has been a decadent mix between helping others attain their health/fitness goals while at the same time getting a taste of marketing within the health and fitness industry. My passion is to motivate and educate others about how to attain the best possible health and fitness within the bounds of the latest scientific research, by way of individualized counseling sessions, presentations, fitness classes, writing articles and/or social networking.

The greatest joy that I get out of living my dream as a dietitian/fitness professional is made up of two things; seeing the clients/patients changing their lives by utilizing the dietetic advice that I am fortunate enough to coach them on, and being the kind of fitness leader that pushes her members to their level of fitness in an enjoyable yet challenging way. Some sporting greats that have inspired me over the last decade or two include, Lance Armstrong, Miguel Indurain, Glenn Gore, Monica Brant, Bruce Fordyce, and Natalie du Toit.

Zikhona Spelman

Zikhona Spelman is a dietitian (BSc Diet-UNP) for Future Life in the Gauteng Province. She is an Associate Member of ADSA (Association of Dietitians in South Africa). Although she loves all different fields that have to do with nutrition and dietetics, her passion is really in Nutrition Education. She has completed her Diploma in Human Resource Management, with Training and Development as a major (UNISA), which fuses her passion for nutrition and education perfectly. She also holds certificates for Diabetes Management and Women`s Health.

Zikhona has collaborated and co-published in the South African Medical Journal and British Medical Journal in 1999/2000, a research on Iron Deficiency in South Africa for UNICEF/ Department of Nutrition through Wits Medical School (Heamatology).
Having worked for various multinational medical companies like Abbott Laboratories, Novo Nordisk and Bayer Healthcare, and working with key opinion leaders in various medical professions in the health industry for over six years, Zikhona has accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience in this industry, which then enables her to impart credible information to her clients.

On attending various nutrition workshops and congresses, giving talks and doing public education on various health topics, and judging from the number of questions from the audiences she has addressed on lifestyle changes, she realizes that there was a huge need and gap for public health education in this country and she decided she wants to be part of that change in filling that gap. She is very happy to be working with a company like Future Life that embraces the same efforts.