What is the Root Cause Protocol (RCP)?

It is a research based lifestyle designed to support our bodies back to balance via predominantly food-based minerals, vitamins and stress reduction.

Most of us don’t have much awareness about what minerals do in our body, and why they may be important. The interplay between minerals, vitamins and other nutrients as a whole, is often overlooked in importance when we aren’t feeling 100%.

We also typically don’t get taught what impact stress has on how we function, on how those minerals/nutrients are impacted.

The beauty of the RCP is that the focus is on building a connection between nutrients/nutrient balance in our bodies and understanding what stress has to do with it.

We start by stopping some items which are typically synthetic or manufactured nutrients which increase our oxidative stress, damage to our cells, and mess with overall metabolic systems within the body. This is known as “Phase 0”. 

Slowly we then introduce core nutrients one by one through Phases 1 to 3, plus an extra “Phase X” where it’s activities or nutrients which can be introduced at the time that feels right for the individual. 

What sort of nutrients are we talking?

Whole food sources of vitamin c (not synthetic ascorbic acid!), vitamin a (pre-formed retinol) via sources like free range eggs, grassfed butter, cod liver oil and grassfed beef liver), an ancestral diet consisting of seasonal ideally organic foods to get magnesium, copper, electrolytes and other trace elements that we need for proper our metabolic recycling systems to work effectively. 

That’s too simple!?

It can seem really simple, too simple, but it’s worth taking some time to learn more before dismissing it. 

Years ago Kristan coined the phrase “simplicity and enormity of the RCP“.

There is extensive research behind every inclusion of the phases, and it goes into biochemistry at the mitochondrial level… but the simplicity is that you can help to reduce symptoms, increasing energy and feeling more “like you” with some core nutrients.

The RCP is supporting the building blocks in your body, so your body can bring things back online within your body that may not have been able to operate effectively due to underlying imbalances.

Even if you have been told repeatedly that “you’re fine” from your practitioners, you may have imbalances. Many practitioners are not trained extensively in minerals and vitamins, and often spend only hours training in this area. It’s not often covered in ongoing professional development too, so their scope is minimal in this area compared to the emergency medicine and symptom management they are often extremely well trained in.

Morley Robbins is the researcher behind the RCP, and he has spent over 15 years bringing together research from around the world on iron, copper, magnesium, retinol (vitamin A), electrolytes. It’s a really deep look at physiology and metabolics, but presented in a way that the majority of people can understand.

You can read more on the RCP website here. The archive of Morley’s iron toxicity posts is here.

In 2014 Kristan first worked with Morley (after reading his research for about 6 months). It was a complete game changer for her health and that of her family.

Teresa also worked with Morley around this time as well, and saw huge changes.

You can read more about Kristan’s own health journey here, Teresa’s story here, Rachel’s story here and Holly’s story here.

In 2017 Kristan and Teresa trained with Morley in the first intake of training for practitioners. They started working with clients that year after people in the RCP community asked for their help and to share their knowledge.

By 2018 Kristan was involved in further developing the training with Morley and both have been supporting the training ever since. 

As at August 2024, the RCP Institute is training the 20th Group of students. Kristan has been the Operations Manager for the RCP including facilitating the practitioner training with Morley, delivering webinars and facilitating events like regular Q & A’s in the RCP community for a number of years. She has recently developed the ‘RCP Handbook Companion Course‘ which is a comprehensive ‘step by step’ video series that gives additional ideas and ways to implement the steps covered within the free RCP Handbook.

Teresa supports the RCP behind the scenes including the RCP Institute curriculum development and tutor support, updating and optimising content for the students and graduates in the RCP Alumni and much more. 

Rachel and Holly are very active members in the RCP community and Alumni, and actively take an interest in so many areas. 

Both Kristan and Teresa helped friends and family to learn more “unofficially” over the years because of how much it helped them… and they had encouragement by those they helped to train more formally in it. While some years later, Rachel and Holly have similarly helped others because they knew the difference it had made for them, and how much it can help others.

The entire team are very passionate and wherever we go, we tend to end up involved in sharing the knowledge and supporting others to learn!

The entire team are always aiming to help people understand their own situation and to gain context about their own situation. The RCP provides the building blocks for healing, but context is everything, so we love to help our clients and those in the community at large, to find their own way in connecting dots on the pathway to health. 

If you would like to see the suggestions, the team have compiled these resources which are there to help with implementation of the phases, please head to the RCP product suggestion page.

This Supporting Balance website has a range of resources to help you learn more about how you slot into this whole picture and what you can do to feel stronger, more energy or reduce your symptoms.

A great place to start is the ‘Start Here’ menu, or if you would like to work directly with us to get personalised support, you can find options under the ‘Work with Us‘ heading.

Please note, there are some affiliate links on this page which may lead to a small payment being made to Supporting Balance if you were to purchase. There is no extra cost to you.