By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—Nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and omega-3s are essential to health, but how many people are getting everything their body needs? Nutrient deficiencies can lead to a variety of ailments, from low energy to digestive trouble.

That’s where Rhonda Dial comes in. Dial is a master herbalist with decades of experience using herbs and supplements to naturally improve health.

From her Hoover storefront, Go Natural Herbs and Fitness, Dial consults people and helps them better their health by supplementing their diets.

Healing with herbs and supplements isn’t just Dial’s profession, it’s her passion.

A friend first introduced Dial to herbal remedies 33 years ago when she was struggling with post partum depression. The medication she was prescribed only made her more “tired and lethargic,” Dial explained, but the natural supplements helped immediately.

“That’s what started my journey,” Dial said.

Dial said she’s used herbs to cure her own conditions, such as eczema, and even her son’s cystic fibrosis. She has also helped countless people throughout the Birmingham area and across Alabama.

“I call herbs God’s pharmacy. They’ve always been here,” Dial said. “I believe in them with every fiber that’s within me.”

A self-described “workaholic,” Dial consults from her Hoover shop five days a week and takes her skills on the road on Fridays. Dial estimated she sees more than 60 clients each week.

During consults, Dial examines a patient’s eyes, tongue and nails to spot potential deficiencies.

“They’re outward indicators of what’s going on inside your body,” Dial said.

She then works with clients to select and educate them on supplements.

“Everything I do…it’s all about information,” Dial said.

The most common ailments Dial sees are high blood pressure, blood sugar problems, skeletal issues and high cholesterol, but she also sees clients with critical illnesses, such as ALS and cancer.

“For some people, it’s life and death,” Dial said. “I work with critically ill people every day…knowing that we have a short (amount of time) and (need to) make a small amount of money stretch.”

During her time as an herbalist, Dial has seen some remarkable recoveries, including a patient diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer. The patient used an herbal and supplement regimen, and his tumors shrank and became operable, Dial said.

While herbs and supplements can have substantial health benefits, Dial said her role as an herbalist does not replace the services of a doctor. Instead, Dial said herbs and supplements can compliment a client’s medication.

“My job as an herbalist is not to take them off pharmaceuticals,” Dial said. “I do not prescribe and diagnose, that is the job of the doctor.”

Go Natural Herbs and Fitness is located at 4524 Southlake Parkway, Suite 4, off of Valleydale Road. It is open Mondays-Fridays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Dial offers private consultations by appointment and offers classes at Go Natural Herbs and Fitness. For more information, visit Rhondadial.com or call 733-7000.