Meet Christina Shadle

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Shadle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Before I became an NTA-certified Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP) and Restorative Wellness Practitioner (RWP), I spent so much time and money trying to hack my digestive issues, combat afternoon slumps, relieve my intense PMS, and lose stubborn belly fat while working in corporate public relations.

Once I learned how to heal myself from a root cause perspective, I knew I wanted to help others do the same so I created Side Benefits Nutrition. Now I specialize in empowering my clients to get in the kitchen and fuel their health with real food and heal themselves through simple lifestyle changes. My goal is to help them feel more in charge of their health and gain clarity into what their bodies need to thrive down to the cellular level.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I specialize in gut health and hormone health but in my mid-forties, I realized I was entering the perimenopausal phase of midlife. Subtle symptoms had been occurring for a few years, but I started noticing changes to my cognition (hello, brain fog), my period (whoa, it got really heavy), cycle length (randomly shorter), moodiness (is everything annoying or is it just me?), extra anxiety, lots of insomnia in my luteal phase, and a few night sweats too. Once I accepted that my body was changing, I decided to dive right in and learn everything I possibly could about this midlife transition—for myself—and my functional nutrition clients. I quickly learned that clean eating, hydration, stress management, sleep prioritization, and targeted supplementation were a great foundation, but it was bioidentical progesterone that really smoothed out the rough edges of this phase.

This prompted me to create an online course for women who truly want to thrive in this phase of their lives. “Make Menopause Sexy” is a go-at-your-own-pace resource that will be useful for anyone who has or has ever had a uterus and wants to be as healthy, vibrant, and sexy as possible for the rest of their long, healthy lives. I’ve outlined a framework for my students to take them from feeling hormonally unbalanced, stressed, or overweight to consistently nourishing themselves well into their midlife years and beyond in an empowered, balanced, and enjoyable way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If friends visit me in LA, I take them for a hike in Griffith Park to catch views of this sprawling city, then pop into Erewhon for a smoothie or beef bone broth from the tonic bar—where we’d probably grab some nutrient-dense snacks to munch on too! I always love a stroll on Larchmont Blvd., grabbing iced matchas at Go Get ‘Em Tiger, and shopping at Credo Beauty and Buck Mason. And the Broad Museum is always a must-see! Throughout the week, we’d hit up a few of my favorite healthy restaurants, such as L&E Oyster Bar, Botanica, Found Oyster, Connie & Ted’s, Salt’s Cure, Great White, Honey Hi, Mother Tongue, Kismet Rotisserie, All-Time, Saltie Girl, Sycamore Kitchen, H&H Brazilian Steakhouse, BOA Steakhouse, Manuela, Toca Madera, Mendocino Farms, Sunlife Organics, Malibu Farm Pier Cafe, Urth Caffe, True Food Kitchen, Sweetgreens, and Sage.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to my incredible husband, Dr. Nathan Shadle. His unwavering patience, kindness, and support have meant the world to me as I’ve navigated this major career change from corporate public relations to functional nutrition. He has stood by me every step of the way, encouraging me to follow my passion and reminding me of my strength when I doubted myself. I couldn’t have made this transition without him, and I’m so grateful!

Website: https://sidebenefitsnutrition.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidebenefitsnutrition/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cshadle/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidebenefitsnutrition

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SideBenefitsNutrition

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sidebenefitsnutrition Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sidebenefitsnutrition