Nutrition Connection

11/03/2026

Can harnessing the power of nutrition be the key to transforming your mental health and unlocking a brighter future? 🌟🤩
Discover how simple dietary changes, such as shifting away from ultra-processed foods and embracing more 🥑🍌🍎🍇 and 🥦🥒🥕🌽🥬🧅🫛, along with specific nutritional supplements (depending on your need/ baseline intake), have been linked to improved mental health outcomes in adults and a healthier foundation for children. Ask yourself : Is it time for a nutritional check-up?
Read more in this APA article https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/03/nutrition-food-mental-health?fbclid=IwdGRjcAQejJlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe9li-B9gOhiR7_M6WREX1ncvu7oKFYHn5CO7B78d_ZvW17bgZLO9MPUk3ezM_aem_TnTQR0BHyYx16rNYi6LyWw

Researchers are furthering our understanding of nutrition to optimize mental health.

04/03/2026

Happy Gut Health Month! Time to think - how many plants do you eat each week? Are you hitting the 30 suggested for optimal gut health? What are some ways you could add extra into your day?

03/02/2026

February is Heart Health Awareness Month- check out these 5 simple tips for better heart health ♥️💛

26/01/2026

What do you think of this?

08/01/2026

Dietary guidelines for Americans for 2025-2030 have just been released, and social media is blowing up with reposts and opinions.

The issue is the new guidelines are being presented as revolutionary when they are in fact a poorly presented mixed bag that read like all popular influencer content:
Nothing really that new
Some good evidence-based recommendations including increasing vegetable and fruit, 🍒🥗, limiting saturated fat (SF) and salt. 🧂
Some alternative ‘facts’ that are contradictory (use beef tallow!), confusing and dangerous to health!
In fact if you follow the recommended number of serves from each food group you will end up eating 3x the recommended limit of SF 🤔🤷‍♀️.
All packaged with authority and fanfare about “resetting” everyone’s health.
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🤓 We also know from the last time there was a Food Pyramid (we have not been using a food pyramid for the last 15 years !) that it is a very confusing way of showing serving sizes and food types.

👉Also remember is that nobody followed the food guide, food pyramid, MyPlate, or any other renditions of the DGA. Contrary to current claims, those former versions were not in any way responsible for the rising rates of chronic disease that we see today…that distinction belongs to the Standard American Diet (SAD). The prevalence of the SAD is due to many factors, none of which are “other administrations/dietitians/conventional medicine told us to eat sugar and ultra-processed foods.”
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💛💙💛If people can’t afford to eat, or don’t have access to food, or don’t live in a safe place, and don’t have community supports and social safety nets, YOUR COUNTRY WILL NEVER BE HEALTHY, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR DIETARY GUIDELINES ARE.
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What do you think of these new Guidelines? What do you think the influence on our next generations will be as a result?

I’m going to post alternative guidelines from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is with Center for Biological Diversity - which do you prefer? If you’re still confused book a session with a Dietitian. our role is to translate the science into what’s important for you and your own health needs. 💛💙💛

07/01/2026

Well here’s a great way of explaining why calcium is important for those that have or are at risk of kidney stones! Thanks The Kidney Dietitian!

To start the new year, I'm bringing back my Mr. McStoney series! Meet Mr. McStoney 🙋🏼He will help us understand how what you eat can impact your risk for kidney stones!

🥛Getting enough dairy in your diet is critical to reduce the risk of oxalate kidney stones and prevent osteoporosis for people with any type of calcium stone.

🧀For people with oxalate kidney stones, dairy is magic! 🤩Calcium helps block the absorption of oxalate, ultimately reducing the amount of oxalate in your urine. This helps stop kidney stones from forming!

🦴People with any type of calcium kidney stones are also at increased risk of osteoporosis and weak bones, so it is VERY important to make sure to get enough dietary calcium to protect bones. This can seem counterintuitive - but, even if you are forming calcium stones, you should still work to get enough dairy in your diet!

🥛🥛🥛Work to get in 1-3 servings of dairy (or equivalent!) per day. This is the recommended amount for people with OR without kidney stones. 1 serving = 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup plain yogurt, 1 oz cheese or 3/4 cup cottage cheese.

Any creative ideas out there to squeeze in those extra servings of dairy?!

05/01/2026

How many of you skip breakfast or are trying to use time-restricted eating (like IF) to manage energy levels and unwanted weight gain? 🙋‍♀️
Here are 3 reasons why it might not be the best approach for you! 👇

⏱️ Skipping breakfast can disrupt your stress hormone (cortisol), which may make your body store more fat.

⌛️ When cortisol stays out of balance, it can increase hunger and cravings later in the day.

🤦‍♀️ Eating at the wrong times, or skipping meals, can slow metabolism and make weight gain more likely over time.

Book a session with an experienced Dietitian to help understand your own body better 🫶.

References
Chawla et al., 2021
Perona et al., 2015
Russo et al., 2024

16/12/2025

NAD and creatine are currently the buzzwords in anti- aging and memory improvement. While I often recommend creating to my older clients for general muscle mass maintenance, below is an excellent summary of why I don’t recommend NAD.
Spend your health $$ wisely!

NAD, NMN and NR supplements are claimed to boost energy, fight ageing and extend lifespan. I break down the hype to see if the claims stand up to scrutiny.

06/12/2025

Ultra-processed foods now comprise around half of New Zealanders' diets with health implications including diabetes, obesity, heart disease and depression.

Ultra-processed foods are made from cheap ingredients using industrial methods, contain a lot of sugar, salt, fat and additives, and are heavily promoted.

“In Aotearoa, New Zealand, it is likely that consumption of ultra-processed food is around 50 to 60 percent of the nation’s diet, similar to other high-income, English-speaking countries,” says Professor Boyd Swinburn, a population nutrition researcher from the University.

“We do know that unhealthy diets and obesity are our biggest risk factor for disease and death in New Zealand, and this is driven by our high intake of ultra-processed foods,” Swinburn says. “We really need policies to create healthier food environments if we want to make a difference to our increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, and mental health problems.”

“Ultra-processed foods are harmful products and their marketing to children should be banned – New Zealand has the second highest rate of child obesity in the OECD, yet no policies to address this.”

Swinburn is an author of one of the three papers comprising The Lancet’s Series on Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health. Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2025/11/20/upf-now-comprise-half-nz-diets.html

10/11/2025

I know lots of people are using AI to find out more, and more quickly - but here’s where 20+ years of ‘doing the job’ comes into play. Read this interesting article by an experienced dietitian who used AI to summarise recent guidelines - and how AI changed the info. Does it make you more likely to keep your trust in experienced clinicians like Nutrition Connection?

https://annewrightrd.substack.com/p/i-asked-ai-to-summarise-the-new-bda?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true&fbclid=IwZnRzaAN-P_hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeweNY25iqXhxNmbVLhD9XWyX_7nrQASPAQtI0xp1GvvXKq55URxiaFc3WgLI_aem_a-bJNNmP8BTMvtmTwg2zMQ

Today I did something most of us will do eventually: I asked AI to help me save time.

27/09/2025

Did you know starting Wegovy WITHOUT a dietitian results in an average of only 4% weight loss? Make your effort last beyond the injections by getting help from a professional in behavior change and food psychology!

11/09/2025

As we wrap up Malnutrition Week - please remember that malnutrition is not always obvious. Even when food intake seems adequate, chronic gut conditions like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, coeliac disease, or pancreatic insufficiency can impair absorption of essential nutrients, leaving the body undernourished at a cellular level. Restricted eating and fad diets can also cause inadequate nutrient intake. This “hidden malnutrition” contributes to fatigue, muscle loss, impaired immunity, and poorer recovery, yet it often goes unrecognised because body weight alone does not tell the full story. As Dietitians, we look beyond the surface, screen proactively, and prioritise tailored nutrition strategies that restore both digestive and whole-body health. ?