Elaine McGowan is one of Ireland’s leading private healthcare Dietitians and Clinical Nutritionists and she has been at the forefront of providing dietary solutions for IBS patients. She is based primarily at the Hermitage Medical Clinic and also at the Beacon Consultants’ Clinic, Dublin and Bons Secours Hospital, Limerick.
With over 35 years of experience, she specialises in dietary solutions for a range of gastrointestinal conditions including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Coeliac disease, diverticulosis and in more recent years both Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and Functional Dyspepsia.
In 2010 Elaine travelled to Melbourne Australia to meet with one of the main researchers of the low FODMAP diet. Elaine was one of the first Dietitians in Ireland to train in, and embrace the low FODMAP diet as part of her dietary solutions for IBS. Since then her philosophy has further evolved and she has also educated many colleagues in the benefits of these dietary solutions for IBS patients.
In addition, Elaine also has a specialist interest in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), underactive thyroid, difficult weight loss and the functional gut symptoms associated with these conditions. She has successfully used personalised dietary strategies to help over 30,000 patients.
Elaine has designed, piloted, implemented and co-ordinated workplace wellbeing programmes for several prominent organisations in Ireland.
Elaine has extensive experience in sports nutrition and has a Masters in Sport Nutrition; ‘A nutritional evaluation of Elite Irish Athletes’. She has worked as a Sports Nutritionist with the Olympic Council of Ireland for the 1992, 1996 Olympic Games and with the sailing and rowing squads for 2000 Olympic Games. In the past she worked with the Irish National Rugby Squad, the National Training and Coaching Centre, and notably set up the sports nutrition component of the National Athlete Player Support Network in Ireland.
Elaine cares and caters for the patient as a whole, their psychological and emotional wellbeing is as much a part of her approach as is their diet.