Speaking and Media
Maria loves turning complex physiology into ideas people can use the same day. She speaks to practitioners, community groups, wellness events and podcast audiences.
Where Maria has taught
Professional track · February 2021
Food as Medicine Symposium
The Low Sulfur Dietary Protocol: Rationale, Implementation, and 8 Years of Observations
A presentation for practitioners covering why a low sulfur protocol may be considered, how to put it into practice in a way patients can sustain, and what years of clinical observation have shown.
Symposium speaker listingCommunity talk · February 2025
Theosophical Society in Portland
Tapping into Intuition
Drawing on fifteen years of clinical experience, Maria explored the balance between the autonomic nervous system and the enteric nervous system of the gut, and how restoring it can make creativity, intuition and joy more accessible.
Event pageTalks Maria can give
Each talk can be shaped for a professional, community or online audience, from a short podcast conversation to a full workshop.
The gut and brain conversation
How the nervous system runs digestion, why stress shows up in the gut, and what people can do about it.
The quiet fire
Low-grade inflammation: where it comes from, how it feels, and practical ways to lower the load.
Therapeutic diets in practice
For practitioners: using low sulfur, low histamine, low FODMAP and GAPS approaches well, and helping patients back out of them.
Aging well from the inside out
Recovery, strength, digestion and a calmer baseline, from a practitioner still running trails in her sixties.
Five-minute regulation
An experiential session teaching simple nervous system practices for busy lives and stressful workplaces.
Food, stress and intuition
How a settled nervous system opens space for creativity, clearer thinking and joy.
Invite Maria to speak
Maria welcomes invitations from practitioner groups, wellness events, community organizations, workplaces and podcasts. To ask about availability, call (503) 929-7747 or send a message through her secure client portal, and include the event, audience and date you have in mind.
Short bio for event materials
Maria Zilka, NTP, is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and Certified GAPS Practitioner based in Beaverton, Oregon, with more than fifteen years of clinical experience. Her work centers on the connection between the autonomic nervous system, digestion and chronic inflammation, and she has extensive experience implementing therapeutic diets alongside physicians. She has presented at the Food as Medicine Symposium and the Theosophical Society in Portland, and she still runs trails in her sixties.