Exam Room Nutrition: Practical Nutrition for Healthcare Professionals

 Hunger, Habits and Sustainable Weight Care 

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Rees Checketts, an internal medicine physician specializing in metabolic and obesity medicine, to talk about what nutrition education in medical training gets right, and where it still falls short. We also dig into the conversations clinicians are having every day about weight, hunger, GLP-1 medications, cortisol, processed foods, and the lat...

This episode is part of our four-part Avocados in Practice mini-series, sponsored by Avocados – Love One Today®.  Today, we're exploring practical family nutrition strategies from first foods to family meals. Helping families eat well isn't about creating the perfect meal, it's about finding realistic strategies that work through every stage of childhood. In this final episode of our mini-series, Patricia Bannan, MS, RDN...

This episode is part of our four-part Avocados in Practice mini-series, sponsored by Avocados – Love One Today®. Today, we're asking whether we're focusing on the right things when it comes to diabetes nutrition. 

When someone is diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, nutrition conversations often become all about sugar and carbohydrates. But are we missing the bigger picture? In this episode, Patricia Bannan, MS,...

This episode is part of our four-part Avocados in Practice mini-series, sponsored by Avocados – Love One Today®. Today, we're tackling one of the most common nutrition conversations in practice: cholesterol. Nutrition counseling often focuses on what patients should stop eating, but what should we encourage them to eat more of? Patricia Bannan, MS, RDN, joins me to discuss the types of food substitutions that can impact chole...

Many patients believe that feeling hungry is simply part of losing weight, but it doesn't have to be. In this episode of our Avocados in Practice mini-series, sponsored by Avocados - Love One Today®, Patricia Bannan, MS, RDN, joins me to discuss why satiety matters, what the research says about fullness and foods and nutrients that influence it, and how clinicians can help patients build meals that are both satisfying and nutrient-...

Apricot Kernels, Amino Acid Diet & Fasting in Cancer Care. 

In this episode, I’m joined by oncology dietitian Ginger Hultin to break down some of the biggest cancer nutrition myths circulating online and explain what clinicians should actually be telling patients.

We discuss:

• Whether sugar really “feeds” cancer and what the Warburg effect actually means
• The truth about soy, phytoestrogens, and hormone-sen...

 CGMs, Carb Counting and GLP-1s in Type 1 Diabetes 

Type 1 diabetes care has changed a lot. From earlier screening and diabetes staging to diabetes technology, clinicians have more tools than ever, but also more to keep up with.

In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah Hormachea, RDN, CDCES, to break down what clinicians need to know about modern type 1 diabetes management.

Key takeaways:

• Who should be screened for type...

 We Were Taught Eating Disorders Wrong 

A patient can be purging, restricting, hiding food, or obsessing over their body and still have a “normal” weight and normal labs. That’s exactly why eating disorders are so easy to miss.

In this episode, I sit down with eating disorder expert and dietitian Jessica Setnick for a conversation that completely challenges the way many of us were trained to recognize diso...

Fiber, Fermentation, and the Gut Microbiome

Healthcare practitioners can request free samples of NeuroFiber here

We’re all guilty of telling patients to “eat more fiber,” but that recommendation is often too basic. Fiber type, diversity, tolerance, and the patient’s specific health goal all matter.

In this sponsored episode, with support from NeuroFiber, you’ll learn why relying on one isolated fiber may ...

Nutrition, supplements, and what the evidence says

In this episode, I’m joined by Chelsey Hoffmann, PA-C, RDN, who specializes in pain medicine at Mayo Clinic, to break down where nutrition fits into chronic pain management and how to evaluate supplements without overpromising results.

We cover:

• Why a Mediterranean-style diet should come before supplements for pain
• Supplements with evidence for neuropathic pain vs. musculoske...

Fertility Care for Both Partners 

Infertility affects both partners, yet fertility evaluations and lifestyle advice often focus primarily on women. In this Summer School replay, Colleen talks with infertility PA Jessica Boone about taking a more complete, compassionate approach to fertility care.

They discuss why both partners should be evaluated, what may be missing from a standard infertility workup, and how nutrition, sleep, ...

Foods to support focus, memory, and long-term brain health

In this Summer School replay, I talk with Dr. Jenna Stedman, a cognitive performance dietitian, about the connection between nutrition and cognitive health across the lifespan. 

You’ll learn:

• Which nutrients matter most for cognitive health
• Whether blending fruit changes its nutrition or blood sugar impact
• How to build a simple Brain Power Plate
• Specific foods that...

Nutrition To Support Post-Operative Healing

In this Summer School replay, Colleen talks with Erin Scherer, a surgical PA and registered dietitian, about the role nutrition plays in tissue repair, infection prevention, and recovery. They discuss which patients may need additional nutrition support, the key nutrients clinicians should prioritize, and simple opportunities to bring nutrition into the conversation.

Grab the FREE Post-Surg...

 Food Triggers, Hydration, and Supplements 

Welcome to Summer School! In this Summer School replay, Colleen talks with Kelly, a registered dietitian specializing in migraine nutrition, about the complicated relationship between food and migraines. They discuss why there is no universal list of “migraine trigger foods,” how hydration and caffeine may influence symptoms, and why overly restrictive elimination die...

 You Are Not Your Struggle

So many women are trying to eat better, lose weight, meal plan, feed their families, manage busy schedules, and somehow not feel guilty about every food choice along the way. In this episode, I’m joined by Kelsey Wickenhauser, PA, homeschooling mom of four, Christian health coach, and founder of Kingdom Fit Moms, for a conversation about what it really looks like to pursue health in the middle o...

CKD Food Rules That Need an Update 

Kidney nutrition has a reputation for being restrictive, confusing, and honestly… a little intimidating. But for many patients with chronic kidney disease, the biggest problem isn’t that they’re eating a banana or adding tomatoes to dinner. It’s that they’ve been handed outdated food rules that leave them scared to eat.

In this episode, I’m joined by renal ...

 Give Nutrition Advice Without Making Patients Feel Punished 

Have you ever asked, “Do you have any other questions?” at the end of a visit and immediately regretted it?

Same.

Because of course they have more questions. Important questions. Questions that probably should have been asked 15 minutes ago, except now you’re already behind, the next patient is waiting, and you’re trying to be compassionate...

What Really Happens Inside an Obesity Clinic 

GLP-1 medications are everywhere right now. Patients are asking about Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, compounded medications, muscle loss, “Ozempic face,” insurance denials, and what happens when the weight loss slows down.

But what does obesity medicine actually look like inside the clinic? In this episode, I’m joined by Joseph Zucchi, PA-C, clinical supervisor and phys...

Nutrition Advice Needs More Nuance.

Your patients are hearing a lot online: fix your gut, avoid processed foods, buy organic, take a probiotic, and eat the “right” foods if you want to be healthy.

But nutrition is rarely that simple.

In this episode, I’m joined by Registered Dietitian Manju Karkare to talk about how clinicians can respond to common nutrition questions with more nuance, less fear, and advice that actu...