The Diarrhea Dietitian

"All disease begins in the gut."

— Hippocrates

Never settle. Take it to the next level and really let your ideas run wild. Lets Make YOU feel BETTER.

The digestive system always fascinated me. I remember lovingly coloring my digestive diagrams in high school elective anatomy class. In college, I initially majored Pre-Med, then Pharmacy, before finally graduating with Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Management. I completed my dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

In my internship I learned how to teach diabetic, renal, weight loss, weight gain, surgical, and other diets to patients. But no one taught me how to educate patients on what to eat for gastrointestinal problems. This surprised me! …it just makes sense– the food you eat must go through the digestive system before it enters the body. So, it became my passion: to learn how to teach people to eat when their tummy doesn’t seem to work like everyone else’s.

Flash forward. I have worked as a registered dietitian for the same health system since 1996. Initially, I worked in the critical care and surgical units, tailoring my nutrition education for patients with cancer, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, etc.

In 2003, the health system offered me the opportunity to open an outpatient nutrition counseling office, counseling adults for anything from weight loss to diabetes, while specializing in gastrointestinal diseases and disorders. In 2012, when budget cuts closed my hospital-based office, I took the plunge and started my own private practice, Strategic Nutrition, LLC. (I continue to work on-call for the health system as a media rep.) I self-published my first book: The Diarrhea Dietitian: Expert Advice, Practical Solutions, and Strategic Nutrition in 2013.

As a passionate private practice owner, I joined Nutrition Entrepreneurs dietetic practice group in 2009. I had the wonderful opportunity to serve as Director-elect, then Director, of Member Services from June 2014-May 2016.

I am a pretty straightforward person. I’m not afraid to talk about anything related to poop. After all these years of working with patients, there isn’t much I haven’t heard. I can even say diarrhea in public without my face turning red. One of my goals in life is to convince the world that it is ok to talk about bowels, diarrhea, and gas.

Clients benefit from my three-part approach:

• Educational: scientific, based on human anatomy/physiology and nutrition, and current evidence-based literature
• Professional: my experience as a dietitian in learning how food works in the body, particularly in those with gastrointestinal disorders
• Personal: my own personal issues with diarrhea over the years and my diagnosis of celiac disease, including my dietary successes and failures

It was said best in a children s book, “Everyone Poops.” And let’s face it, everyone does. If yours aren’t normal, you’ve come to the right place, and you are welcome here.