#nutrition

Paige Smathers

Aug 19, 2019

Does this Ever Get Easier?

"Whoa, this sounds like a lot of work! You're really saying you watch your thoughts and practice mindfulness, self-compassion with your food choices? That seems like it would take a lot of time! Will it ever get easier?" If I had a nickel for every time I was asked that question... Look, I get it. Diets have made us believe that we should have instant 'results'. Diets have brainwashed us into thinking that if it isn't easy, we need to move on to the next quick fix empty promi

The Ingredient Most People are Missing in Their Approach to Food

Paige Smathers

Jul 22, 2019

The Ingredient Most People are Missing in Their Approach to Food

Self-compassion is the foundation of the work I do with nutrition. It might sound strange coming from a registered dietitian, but it's absolutely critical to develop self-compassion as you begin (or continue) to work on your nutrition. Otherwise, you run the risk of your nutrition changes playing out like every other diet has in the past: leaving you feeling guilty, defeated, and frustrated. Whether it's subconscious or not, most of us are operating on this basic premise with

How to Measure Progress with Nutrition Beyond Inches and Pounds

Paige Smathers

Jun 17, 2019

How to Measure Progress with Nutrition Beyond Inches and Pounds

Relying on numbers as a barometer for success with your nutrition and eating is tricky business. It's asking for trouble when you step on the scale to decide what type of day you're going to have. It can look like this: Am I up a pound? Okay, it's going to be a bad day. Am I down today? Okay, that means I can have a good day. Honestly, I wouldn't wish that life on anyone! Your body is a complicated, beautiful, sophisticated entity—and, leaning on the measurement of the earth'

8 Surprising Facts I Learned about Nutrition while Getting my PhD in Nutritional Sciences

Paige Smathers

Mar 25, 2019

8 Surprising Facts I Learned about Nutrition while Getting my PhD in Nutritional Sciences

They say the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know and that is 100% true in my experience as someone who has spent the better part of a decade knee-deep in the science of nutrition. My views about nutrition and the scientific world in general have changed pretty dramatically over that time. Because I know the topic of nutrition is fascinating to many people in the general public, I thought it might be fun for me to share some of the most surprising realizations

143: The Paradox of Permission with Intuitive Eating

Paige Smathers

Feb 18, 2019

143: The Paradox of Permission with Intuitive Eating

Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD is the co-author of the book: Intuitive Eating. Evelyn is an award-winning registered dietitian, with a nutrition counseling practice in Newport Beach, California. She has written nine books including the bestsellers Healthy Homestyle Cooking and Intuitive Eating (co-author). Her newest book is the Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food. Evelyn was the nutrition expert for Good Morning America, appeari

How to Navigate Nutrition Research with Confidence

Paige Smathers

Oct 1, 2018

How to Navigate Nutrition Research with Confidence

It is extremely tricky to be a consumer in today’s world with so much media influence. There is so much pressure and conflicting messages about health and nutrition. It used to just be newspapers, magazines and the occasional TV news coverage of a nutrition headline. Now, every other person on social media proclaims they have the answers and secrets to health. And because of that, media and research literacy is more important than ever. If you’ve ever felt confused about nutr

Paige Smathers

Aug 27, 2018

Getting to Know Your Gut

I want to preface this post with the fact that I try to avoid being prescriptive because the field of gut health is still very new and we are only beginning to understand these complicated topics. It’s hard to believe, but our gut has some sort of control on nearly every aspect of our body. Hippocrates famously said “all disease begins in the gut”, and while we know this isn’t 100% true, he was definitely onto something that was revolutionary and way before his time. We have

8 Signs your Healthy Eating Efforts Might Be Problematic

Paige Smathers

Aug 1, 2018

8 Signs your Healthy Eating Efforts Might Be Problematic

In our feverish quest for health, do we sometimes lose sight of what’s really important? Do we sometimes take *healthy eating too far? Yes. I believe we often do. Although most people’s intentions are good, as a private practice registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in eating disorders/disordered eating, I see the negative consequences of taking healthy eating too far. What makes it even harder is that many of these concerning behaviors are actually seen as healthy,

Paige Smathers

Nov 18, 2017

89: Fat: An Evolving Story

Is fat our friend or our foe? Listen as I interview Thunder Jalili, PhD, Associate Professor and director of the Nutrition Sciences Department at the University of Utah’s Division of Nutrition and Integrated Physiology about the history, current research, and controversy surrounding this macronutrient. We talk in depth about the diet heart hypothesis and take a close look at cholesterol, fat intake in general, and heart health. You’ll finish this episode with a deeper underst

87: Pregnancy Nutrition Questions Answered

Paige Smathers

Nov 3, 2017

87: Pregnancy Nutrition Questions Answered

In this episode, we're sharing a podcast Paige recorded with the host of the Birds and Bees podcast all about nutrition during pregnancy. We take a different look at the information and discuss the common difficulties women have during pregnancy from nausea to body image concerns. Women who are thinking about pregnancy, currently pregnant, or who recently had a baby—listen up! This is a great resource to help get on the right foot nutritionally and body image-wise before, dur

Paige Smathers

Oct 12, 2017

Rethinking Nutrition Education for Kids

Parents, teachers and community members can all agree—we want healthy, happy kids. Teachers have endless requirements and curriculum standards to meet, one of which is teaching students some of the basics of nutrition. But, nutrition isn't always as straightforward as one might think, especially with kids. Teaching children about nutrition is tricky. It's tricky because two children can hear the exact same message and one may take it so seriously that they develop fear and an

What Does the Word Healthy Actually Mean?

Paige Smathers

Jul 28, 2017

What Does the Word Healthy Actually Mean?

The term "healthy" in the nutrition world has, in many cases, come to be a euphemism for morality with food. You're "good" if you eat vegetables and you're "bad" if you eat cake. The word "healthy" is also used as a way to describe and categorize bodies. You're body is considered healthy if it looks a certain way and unhealthy if it doesn't fit neatly into certain categories. The word healthy has been oversimplified and misused by media and so-called health gurus, and the wor

Paige Smathers

Jul 20, 2017

73: "What the Health" Review

The newest documentary stirring up all kinds of controversy in the nutrition and health world is "What the Health". After getting multiple questions about my opinion on this film, I decided to get a panel of dietitians together to talk about our reactions to the documentary. In this episode, I speak with Vincci Tsui, RD and Kathleen Hernder, RD, CDE who are two registered dietitians passionate about helping people live happy, healthy lives. Kathleen is a certified diabetes ed

Paige Smathers

May 9, 2017

65: Raising Intuitive Eaters

The feedback about Nutrition Matters Podcast listeners' excitement for intuitive eating has been so much fun and so encouraging! Thank you for all your support and excitement for learning about a more gentle approach to nutrition and health. Many listeners have written in asking for more episodes around the ideas of raising kids who are able to reject the dieting mentality and tune into their own body's needs. Because of all the great questions and requests I've gotten from l

53: How One Woman Made Huge Strides Toward a Healthier Relationship with Food & Her Body

Paige Smathers

Dec 17, 2016

53: How One Woman Made Huge Strides Toward a Healthier Relationship with Food & Her Body

I just launched my online course!! It's been years in the making and I'm so excited to share this episode. This conversation is with one of the beta testers of the course and she talks all about her experiences of how she's made huge progress in healing her relationship with food and her body. She has some incredible important insight, so listen in—you're going to learn so much! I know I did. Important links: Positive Nutrition online course coming soon! Join the Nutrition Ma

Should You Sneak Veggies Into Your Kids' Food?

Paige Smathers

Oct 5, 2016

Should You Sneak Veggies Into Your Kids' Food?

As parents, the kids-eating-their-vegetables struggle is real. We know veggies are important because they’re packed with essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients that children (and all of us) need for optimal health. But, they definitely don’t taste as good to kids as some of the other things on their plate. When all else fails, is sneaking vegetables into kids’ foods a good idea? As a registered dietitian, I get questions like this all the time. I don’t see anything wrong