Dr Kirstie Lawton

Background & Bio Details

Dr Kirstie Lawton is a nutritionist with 24 years of experience, including the past decade as a functional nutritionist. Her passion for brain health originates from her own childhood experience with undiagnosed neurological issues that were resolved through diet and lifestyle interventions guided by her “ahead of her time” mother.

She began her career as a conventional nutritionist before retraining in functional nutrition at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) during a period when her mother was terminally ill – an experience that profoundly shaped her dedication to integrative and functional approaches to health. For the first two decades of her career, she specialised in paediatric, adolescent, and young adult health, with a strong focus on the gut–brain axis, neurodivergence, and nutritional psychiatry. In recent years, her clinical work has increasingly focused on complex neurodegenerative conditions, including Motor Neuron Disease (MND)/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis.

To further support this evolving focus, Dr Lawton is currently completing a Master’s degree in Neuroscience and Neurodegeneration at the University of Sheffield.

In addition to her clinical work, she holds several academic and advisory positions. Having been instrumental in the establishment of the ION Graduate Diploma, she now serves as a module coordinator. She lectures in Children’s Health – including brain-related health conditions – at ION, BCNH (University of Northampton), and the University of Worcester. Dr Lawton also sits on the editorial board for the Nutritional Medicine Institute and Journal, advises Parkinson’s Guernsey, and is a member of the Medical Committee for Healing ALS.

Areas of specialisation:

Adults with Motor Neuron Disease (MND)/Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis

Teenagers and adults with mental health concerns including anxiety, depression, OCD, insomnia.

Children, teenagers and young adults with neurodivergent tendencies, particularly ADD and ADHD.