Meet Geta Barbu

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Geta Barbu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Geta , so happy to have you on the platform and I think our readers are in for a treat because you’ve got such an interesting story and so much insight and wisdom. So, let’s start with a topic that is relevant to everyone, regardless of industry etc. What do you do for self-care and how has it impacted you?

Self care is not what’s headlined in the media or social media. It isn’t spa days, it isn’t the latest 12 step face wash routine.

Self care is keeping your promise to yourself. The more you do that, the more confidence, precision, and Self advocacy you have for yourself.

One of my promises I make to my self is my eating breakfast before having coffee. I know, so random. But maybe not….
Being a Practitioner and Certified Nutritionist specializing in working with the Gut-Brain Axis, it goes hand in hand. However, this habit began 12 years ago. I used to wake up groggy, fatigued, and severe cramps in my lower abdomen. I used to reach for coffee right away and it just made things worse. Now, I keep that promise to myself and not only do I not have those symptoms, but that little promise grew into having a fruitful marriage with my soul mate, my higher education, my athleticism, being positive towards life, & being able to be a present mama to my 2 littles.

One little habit, BIG impact.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I always use dark humor when people ask me oh how did you get into this whole nutrition and wellness thing. Was it 11 years of being a profressional gymnast and being qualified to world’s and being in that environment for so long as a child and teen?
Did you have chronic symptoms after you had kids?
Did you realize America’s food industry was so terrible when you moved to live in Spain?
The dark humor joke I always say is : It was broken when I bought it.

I was adopted at 3 years old from Romania, post communism era.
But my 1st 3 years of my life I was abandoned and then kept a secret. And I wasn’t abandoned in an adorable little basket and left in front of the fire station kinda way. I was abandoned with no name and I had a birth certificate typed up 2.5 years after I was born. (I don’t know my birth date for sure).
And I’m not alone, I’m part of what’s called “The Lost Generation”. 100,000+ kids from Romania alone.. abandoned and put in orphanages that were not healthy in any way.

I was severely malnourished, emotionally and mentally ignored, and physically inflamed.

I came to the states when I was almost 4 and that was the 1st time I was taken to see a Pediatrician. My (adopted) Mom knew there was something happening with me health wise but she couldn’t explain to the doctor. The pediatrician said it could be a slow or sluggish liver. The Pediatrician told my mom to not give me eggs , fried food, or even dairy. My mom said no to all that. And rightfully so. I had been malnourished for so long at such crucial time.

As my childhood went on, as I learned English and try to acclimate to the culture in the U.S, as I got better and better at gymnastics… my chronic insomnia, cramping, acne everywhere, heavy menstrual cycles that then made me anemic, anxiety, debilitating depression …got worse. I went to so many tests, labs, over night neuro and sleep tests… nothing. Everything came back normal.

I even remember one nurse telling my mom, “she’s so young and fit, how could she have so many health problems”.

At the stroke of luck, 23k debt (50k in today’s money) later and 7 years later, I did a CCK/HIDA scan. This is a 3-6 hour test to check what happens to our entire GI system from the time we swallow to the time we expelled from our body. That test didn’t give me a diagnosis…after being on THIS journey all my life I STILL don’t have diagnosis… but this test showed my liver was at 53% function. I was 18 years old. And hearing that, hit me like a ton of bricks.

The doctor that performed the test was telling me how by 30 years old, I’d be on dialysis and I’d be lucky if I make it to 40. He was telling me how I’ll be on pills forever and I’ll be lucky if I had kids.

That was what I call my Slim Shady moment. Where it came down to this one rap battle and this was what I really wanted. I wanted to have kids. I already knew that. I wanted to be free. I didn’t want to be handcuffed to Dialysis appointments.

So I put my head down. Really took my education serious, studied Gut and Neurodevelopment for Occupational Therapy at Wayne State.
Studying that, I realized nutrition wasn’t hardly ever part of that education. And that was the yearning for me. To me, food and nutrition is not just about what’s on our plate. It’s honoring God, honoring our bodies, the season were in, our younger selves, our ancestors, our loved ones, and being part of this beautiful and magical planet that we call Earth.

I moved to Spain for love (another story for another time. But yes, I’m a hopeless romantic and I believe in going all in or else what are we doing in our lives) and I studied functional nutrition there.

My husband and I moved back here to the U.S and we had our 1st baby. It wasn’t untill my 2nd pregnancy however that was a bit difficult that got me to wonder what if I help people that have been where I have been?

I couldn’t keep my job with our 2nd pregnancy because it was an at risk pregnancy, and my husband and I said yeah, let’s actually use the education from Wayne State + countless Nutrition education programs I’ve completed and open an online practice.

End of June 2021 I publicly announced I’m taking on clients. 3 years into it and I know this realm of work is what I was created to do.

I focus heavy on self advocacy and education to keep my clients having sustainable results no matter where they live, what season of life their in, and whatever may come their way. I truly do believe that chronic illness is on the rise, but necessarily due to food. I think it has a lot to do with the politics of the world, the extremes of the nutrition world tearing us apart to where we’re so confused, and ultimately, living a very fast paced life because there is so much adult peer pressure in our own health journey’s.

I happily serve the black sheep’s, the out of the box thinkers, the deep empaths, and the ones that wear their heart on their sleeve and their not afraid to show it.

I do run HTMA labs (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis). This lab helps find root cause that simply blood labs cannot show. It tests inner tissues which blood results miss 80% of what’s actually happening in our bodies.

Im honored to have supported over 200 clients with 97% referral rate and 95% success rate based on what clients came
to me for. Truly blessed for every single family I get to help because that means one less person going through the wrath of sick care Western Medicine.

In April 2025, I am Starting my Doctorates of Medical Nutrition through UWS (University of Western States)

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

3 qualities/ skills/ areas of knowledge that were most impactful and still are:

Being myself and not settling for less.
No matter if your a stay at home mom, an ambitious go getter, a Forrest fairy, doesn’t matter -, BE YOU.
That’s your super power and it all comes at the time it’s supposed to.

Studying subjects that weren’t popular at my time/ not doing the popular thing/ be the trail blazer.
It doesn’t have to make sense to anybody around you. If God put that desire or yearning on your heart, go for it. There’s not many people that have the combination of education of Gut Brain + Nutrition not because they can’t, but because they don’t see the connection I do. It doesn’t make me less than or greater than. It makes my journey and my Practice that much more unique.

It’s the journey not the destination.
Being patient but strategic is HIGHLY productive with anyone in a chronic illness journey or even entrepreneurial in the wellness industry. Do the 6am wake ups but also have a day, maybe 2x a week where you sleep in. Do the broths and the castor oil packs, but also enjoy a night out with your significant other. Do the long term support and create an empowering community, but also learn to listen to your inner dialog as well.

I’ve been a Chronic illness warrior with a list of symptoms longer the a CVS receipt.
Rest, but don’t quit.

I know it’s exciting to start feeling better but it’s more important to know what got you to feel better so you can rinse , wash, repeat that for generations to come.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

I personally prefer reading research, books, listening to podcasts/audibles, and looking up articles rather than watching TV.

I have my top fav books such as The Boy raised as a Dog by Dr Bruce Perry.
10% Human is a wonderful one.
The Invisible Kingdom by Meghan O’Rouke is so lovely.

But the one that continues to help me professionally and personally and I recommend to all my clients is an audible called The Science of Compassion by Kelly McGonigal

I believe it’s compassion for not just others but to recognize what compassion for ourselves looks like in different areas of our lives can be the very difference between having migraines or heavy pms symptoms, or high blood sugar because were able to focus on how we can BEST serve our body, and quiet the noise of others and our tricky brain that prefers to settle for the known hell rather than the unknown heaven. By learning compassion and grace, studies also have shown significant reduction in inflammation biomarkers and an increase in positive Behavior Analysis/ Changes.

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