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En La Mesa Nutrition

Inspiring and educating individuals to make effective changes in their lives through the application of science-based nutritional practices.

02/20/2026

The buzzword in nutrition currently is ultra-processed foods, but most people don’t even know what foods fit into that category and it’s causing a TON OF CONFUSION 🥴🥴🥴

📌 How we classify ultra-processed foods (UPFs):

The term comes from the NOVA food classification system, which groups foods into four levels based on the extent and purpose of processing — from unprocessed/minimally processed to “ultra-processed” (industrial formulations with additives and ingredients not commonly used in home kitchens that make the foods more shelf stable and appealing from a visual, flavor, and texture perspective ).

But the truth is that NOVA isn’t the only way to measure or define food processing. Other frameworks take different approaches that blend processing with nutrient quality or additive types.

☑️ Limitations of NOVA to know:
• It doesn’t consider nutrient composition — just processing criteria.
• It uses descriptive rather than quantitative thresholds, so assigning foods can be inconsistent.
• Because of that, some foods with a lot of nutritional value, like certain yogurts and grain foods, can still end up in the same UPF category as foods with less nutrient density.

That means NOVA sometimes misclassifies foods because the system doesn’t capture nutrient quality, cultural food context, or how foods are used in real eating patterns.

So next time you’re quick to think “that food is ultra-processed so it’s ‘bad’ for me” I invite you to get more curious about the nutrient density of the food you’re eating, how often and in what ways you’re eating it, what other foods you’re pairing it with, and to remind yourself that no one food is going to make or break your health, no matter how much fear-mongering is behind it.

PMID: 40655201
PMID: 39191478
PMID: 40757421

02/19/2026

Making this post got me really emotional. It was really hard to do the research without being brought to tears as I see my island and people continue to suffer decade after decade.

Many Cuban-Americans are celebrating this; many who’ve never been on the island, who don’t have family there, who are so far removed from it that they’ve lost their humanity and think they’re the exception (I’m sure many of them will come out of the woodworks to troll me in the comments). However, there are so many more of us watching and wondering what we can do to help. I offered to send my family money, to which they responded “even if I had money, there’s nothing to buy”.

There’s also the other side of the narrative, those who’ve lived very privileged lives, who’ve never gone without, who aren’t even Cuban, disregarding the lived experience of Black and Brown Cubans on the island who are disproportionately impacted by this crisis who’ll call you a gusano for calling out the responsibility the Cuban government has in this.

This post isn’t necessarily a political statement, although this crisis is inherently political. The goal of this post is to inform and provide resources if you want to help, which many of you do. Many of you don’t even know this is happening, so here’s a little synopsis of what’s been happening in my homeland.

I’d like to use this space as a place to crowdsource resources, too, so if you have a resource you’d like to share, please comment below.

02/04/2026

A Spanish-language album winning Album of the Year in a moment when being Latine in America is policed, criminalized, and erased feels bigger than music.
It feels like refusal. Like visibility. Like culture saying we’re still here.

And yes, while Spanish is just another colonizer’s language, it unites so many of us here, where it others us from those who don’t speak it.

Same energy as unlearning diet culture.

Same fight against systems that demand we shrink, assimilate, and disappear to be deemed “acceptable.”

You don’t need to cut rice, beans, or plátanos.
You need access, care, rest, and the freedom to exist in your body without it being policed.

Standing ovation for the people healing their relationship with food, honoring their culture, and holding their boundaries—loudly and unapologetically.

02/03/2026

An oldie but a goodie! Bringing this one back in honor of Black History Month. Black history is Cuban history. Black history is American history.

What food from your culture can you trace back to having African roots?

01/28/2026

I said I’m LEARNING, ok?! I’m not a pro, never gonna go pro, but I can rest easy knowing I can throw a few punches and go down swinging if it comes down to it.

This is obviously a nuanced conversation but if you have the privilege of food security and you’re wondering what you can do to help your community during a time where tyranny is taking over, consider investing in your own strength and health so you can protect the ones around you who don’t have those privileges.

I gotta do better about covering my face, but not bad for my first round, if I do say so myself 🤓

01/26/2026

I’m tired, grandpa

Building a values based business means accepting the consequences of upholding your values. All. The. Time.

01/20/2026

Yeah…. No.

We won’t be taking that kind of advice in 2026 because we know there is no “cure” for diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is chronic and progressive. Can you manage it? Yes. Can you lower your A1c into non-diabetes ranges? Yes! Type 2 diabetes can even go into remission, but that does not mean it’s cured, it’s extremely difficult to achieve, and requires constant monitoring because the underlying risk is already there.

With type 1 diabetes, short of an islet cell transplant which is extremely difficult to access and a very new procedure in the field with much unknown (including how long it lasts), there is no cure.

So please don’t fall for the grifting for another year! Work with a diabetes educator! Most insurances cover a dietitian for at least a few visits, even if you don’t have diabetes. There’s no reason you should be spending a bunch of money buying the latest snake oil.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve heard lately?

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