The Beginnings

I graduated as a Nutritionist from the University of Chile, Faculty of Medicine, in August 1970, balancing my role as a mother of two children and my studies. In those times, there was no maternity or paternity leave, and in my school, I was the first case of a student mother.

My Professional Career

My 55 years of professional practice have been uncommon, as I have ventured into various work fields not typical for a nutritionist at that time, managing to pave the way for those who follow.

My first job assignment was at the cafeteria and daycare of Clinic 2 on Maruri Street, in the northern health area, where I had to be self-taught, as food service management was not studied very deeply in the program in those years.

Later, I was transferred to the Growth and Development Center of the northern area, where I joined the studies being conducted with adolescents, in Dr. Riquelme's team.

I would travel with my children from the bus stop at the 5th kilometer of Vicuña Mackenna and leave them in the daycare centers, first at the clinic and later at the Roberto del Río Hospital daycare. We still didn't have a car, so I traveled by bus, carrying bottles, tins of formula, diapers, etc. This stage of my life was not easy, as it was difficult to get on and off the buses without my children being harmed.

In this work and commuting situation, a colleague informed me that she had been offered a position at the Central Savings and Loan Bank daycare and she wasn't interested in the role. It meant a significant salary increase for me and the ability to work with my two children, so I accepted it immediately.

In 1973, the Bank was closed, and we were laid off.

During my time in the Metro position, I applied for and entered the Food Execution Engineering program, at night, at the USACH Technological Institute, to complete knowledge I realized I was missing to manage a cafeteria (equipment, machinery, and food technology). I passed all the subjects of the program, successfully graduating.

I resigned from the Metro position to accept a great challenge. An international cleaning technology company had arrived, and they couldn't sell their products to food services. The manager called me for an interview and then offered me the opportunity to take charge of that area. I studied and learned everything related to hygiene and cleaning and shared it with other professionals, organizing courses, talks, and seminars. A general understanding was achieved that cleaning was a science and that it was necessary to study it.

I worked at two international cleaning companies, eventually reaching the position of institutional sales manager. I incorporated nutritionists and food technologists into this role, forming technical sales teams.

Nowadays, these companies regularly have these professionals on staff.

After finishing my duties at these companies, I entered the field of education.

Teaching

My teaching activities included: University of Chile (School of Nutrition and Dietetics), Finis Terrae University (School of Nutrition and Dietetics), Mayor University (10 periods teaching a nutrition module for a Diploma for bioregulatory physicians), Santo Tomás University, INACAP (gastronomy and hotel management students, as area coordinator and Applied Sciences teacher), DUOC (gastronomy), Culinary Institute (gastronomy).

New Directions

It was just beginning to be understood that one could be healthy by being vegetarian. Due to a health problem, I adhered to vegetarianism for 20 years, managing to overcome my health issue. Here I discovered a world of health that I didn't know about. I enrolled in courses and studied on a self-taught basis everything that would allow me to understand and share with patients and colleagues the relationship between a vegetarian diet and health. People didn't talk about phytonutrients or antioxidants yet. The importance of the microbiota was not known.

Due to my professional history of several years in the complementary area, especially in plant-based nutrition, I received the recognition of Naturopath from the MINSAL (Ministry of Health).

This allowed me to be part of the Advisory Committee on Complementary Medicines at the Ministry of Health and participate in the drafting and creation of Decree No. 42, which recognizes complementary medicines in Chile, and Decree No. 5, which regulates the practice of Naturopathy in the country.

We developed and evaluated the first exams administered to naturopath applicants.

During this period, I discovered the concept of Orthomolecular medicine and trained in it, in Chile and Mexico. I passed the Diploma in Orthomolecular Nutrition at the Monterrey Institute of Technology. Later, I continued deepening these subjects with Dr. Efraín Olszewer's team.

I studied texts by Dr. Andrew Weil and learned about integrative medicine. With that foundation, I defined the concept of “Integrative Nutrition,” which is based on a traditional basic background, adding aspects of other approaches, according to what each patient requires (naturopathy, vegetarianism, veganism, bioregulation, orthomolecular, Homotoxicology, among others).

I applied for the Diploma in Homotoxicology at the Mayor University and joined the training for bioregulatory physicians.

The basis is to consider that there are no diseases, only sick people, with each one being an individual entity. This was very relevant, as at that time a common protocol was given to all people suffering from the same disease, without individual differences.

Conferences and Courses

I have promoted nutrition on radio and television (Radio Chilena, Radio Agricultura).

The "Buenos Días a Todos" morning show on TVN and programs on Mega.

I have given lectures and/or courses throughout Chile, from Arica to Punta Arenas, as well as in Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, and Mexico, on different topics: Food Hygiene, Vegetarianism, Orthomolecular Nutrition, etc.

This year, 2025, I am invited to speak at the XX Congress of Orthomolecular Medicine in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and I have been invited to speak at two national courses.

I have received congratulations, awards, and honors from my University, from gastronomy organizations, food service companies, the Chilean College of Nutritionists, and especially from my students; I feel completely proud of what we have achieved.

Union Work

In parallel, together with other nutritionists, we created the Association of Collective Feeding Nutritionists, with the aim of sharing the materials I learned in food engineering and technology. We organized courses, seminars, and achieved great solidarity, supporting each other without rivalries when we needed help. International food service concessionaire companies had not yet arrived in Chile.

We asked suppliers for support to train ourselves and received a lot of help to understand and apply processes and food quality assessment.

We incorporated this association into the College of Nutritionists of Chile and became part of the union work. I had the responsibility of holding the position of national president for two terms, secretary for two others, and member of the board for several years.

Among other things, we achieved the recognition of nutritionists as professionals, we joined the Federation of Professional Associations, participating in many meetings with presidents of other associations, ministers, and authorities, which gradually bore fruit for the benefit of the profession.

We achieved the long-awaited FONASA voucher, although the value of the service was not what was required; nevertheless, many colleagues work with it.

I participated in naturopath organizations to request the recognition of professional practice in Chile, which was achieved.

Within the framework of professional union functions, we organized many courses, congresses, and seminars for the improvement of the various areas of the profession.

My consultations

I have been seeing patients in professional consultations for several years, applying the integrative approach learned during my professional career. I achieve great successes in people's health just by changing the way they eat. My consultation included an interview of at least 1 hour, where it was relevant to listen beyond the words. I began to add food supplements to the diet, guided by my knowledge of Orthomolecular nutrition.

My family business

In 2014, together with two other professionals, we created a website, ORTOMOLECULAR CHILE, where we offered food supplements specifically to our patients, looking for the best in the national market. After a few years, this partnership ended because we could not dedicate ourselves to it, and it was transferred to my family.

Together with my daughter and my granddaughters, we formed a women-led company. I am in charge of the technical aspects and nutritional information, my daughter manages it, and two of my granddaughters make up the Marketing and Advertising department. We are also joined by 4 nutritionists. A great human and professional team.

It is not just a store, but a physical and online location, staffed by a team of nutritionists specialized in supplementation who guide clients on the most suitable supplements for their situation and provide them with nutritional support.