Functional nutrition for gut health, hormones and energy
I'm Rita Soares, a functional nutritionist. I specialise in SIBO, IBS and reflux, thyroid and hormonal imbalance, perimenopause and menopause — and the fatigue, weight changes and brain fog that come with them.
Rita Soares is a functional and integrative nutritionist based in Lisbon, with 12 years of clinical practice and more than 2,000 patients. She sees patients online worldwide and in person at Gastroclinic, Lisbon.
IFM Member · Ordem dos Nutricionistas 2604N Online worldwide · In-person Lisbon
WHO IS THIS FOR
When your tests are normal, but you don't feel normal
Bloating after eating
Bloating and gas
Constipation
Reflux and heartburn
Gastritis
Always tired, even after sleeping
Tired after eating
Mental exhaustion and burnout
Anxiety
Brain fog
Perimenopause symptoms
Hot flushes and night sweats
Irregular or painful periods
Hair loss
Acne and eczema
Low immunity
Difficulty losing weight
These symptoms usually have a cause that standard tests don't look for. I look at how your gut, hormones, stress and sleep interact, and build a plan around what's actually driving them.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT
Standard blood panels are designed to detect pathology — they flag what is outside the reference range. What they don't capture is the functional terrain that sits beneath clinical thresholds: disruptions in gut barrier integrity, shifts in microbiome composition, dysregulation of the HPA axis, subclinical thyroid dysfunction, or impaired mitochondrial energy production.
These are measurable, addressable physiological states. Functional nutrition uses targeted dietary intervention, evidence-based supplementation, and lifestyle protocols to restore function at the system level — gastrointestinal, endocrine, immune, and metabolic — before dysfunction progresses to diagnosable disease.
What my patients say
4-MONTH PROGRAMS
Structured support for lasting change
Complex symptoms rarely resolve in one consultation. Both programs give you continuity: regular follow-up, plan adjustments and the time needed for real change.
Two ways to start
Both are one-to-one, online or in Lisbon. Choose the one that fits where you are now.
Frequently asked questions
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