Nutrition isn't black and white

Hi {{first_name}} -

When I worked as an outpatient dietitian, counseling a variety of patients, nearly everyone walked into my office and said “I need a list of foods I can eat and foods I can’t eat”. And my response was always “that’s not a thing” (most of the time).

While some medical conditions do have a black and white list, like celiac disease, for example, where you absolutely have to avoid wheat products, a healthy diet doesn’t involve “good” or “bad” foods. Neither does a diet that supports weight loss on GLP-1.

The only “food” I recommend everyone avoid isn’t a food at all. It’s sugar-sweetened beverages (soda, sweet coffee drinks, etc) that have no nutritional value and are just liquid calories that don’t help you feel full and may actually increase appetite.

Other than that, there isn’t a list of “foods to avoid” that applies to everyone. And this is where things can get a little uncomfortable… because people want clear rules. People get upset when I say you can eat most foods on GLP1. Maybe not having rules is too scary? I’m not sure.

But nutrition doesn’t work that way because patterns and nuance matter more than black and white thinking. This is why dietitians get annoyed when people want to demonize “all” processed foods, because some processed foods can be helpful in some situations.

What matters more is how it fits into your overall pattern, your goals, and your current season of life.

This actually ties into something I’ve gotten some feedback on recently, my partnership with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.

I get it. In the 90s, we were told not to eat butter because saturated fat was going ot kill us. Then the script flipped, and trans fats were bad, and they were going to kill us (true), so we should move away from margarine and eat real butter again.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter was the brand that everyone switched to when they were avoiding butter, then moved away from, because we realized it was completely fake and loaded with trans fats. Based on the previous formulation, I would not have recommended it at all.

But due to consumer demand, they completely changed their formula. It no longer has a long list of ingredients with trans fats; it now has a much shorter ingredient list, just a few oils fortified with nutrients like vitamin D, B12, and omega-3s.

These are the exact nutrients this study found that GLP-1 users were missing. And this is why I thought it could be a useful product and why I accepted the partnership.

For example, very few foods contain vitamin D, and deficiency is widespread across the entire population, so it’s particularly appealing that it is fortified with this vital, hard-to-find vitamin.

But the question here isn’t “Is this a perfect food?” It’s not, but I can’t name a single food that is “perfect” for all people all the time
Instead, can this be helpful in certain situations if I am lacking specific nutrients?

The answer is yes. If you’re struggling to eat enough, then a low-volume addition like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter can be a practical way to add in nutrients without increasing volume.

It may not be right for everyone, and I don’t think every GLP1 user MUST use it, but I wanted to call out that sometimes nutrition requires a deeper look. And it’s important to recognize that some choices might be useful in certain situations.

When you stop labeling foods as strictly “good” or “bad,” you create more flexibility, and that flexibility is often what makes it easier to eat a nutritionally adequate diet. Sometimes, including some fortified (processed) foods may be helpful, especially if you are not eating much.

My goal with my partnerships is to present you with options that could help address some of the nutrition issues that come up with GLP-1 use. There are tons of products out there that might work or provide a benefit for a specific situation. At the end of the day, you need to decide which ones work best for you. I am always happy to answer questions as well.

Moving forward, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter will be providing some GLP-1-friendly dietitian-developed recipes for this newsletter. Many of you have asked for simple recipes, and they have an entire collection that is ready to go. These recipes are high in protein and plant-forward, and whether you want to use their product to make them or not is up to you.

The bottom line is not every food needs to be perfect to be useful; what matters is how it helps you realistically meet your needs. If you need more support on your journey, I provide lots of meal ideas, more nutritional guidance, and weekly meal plans in the GLP-1 Hub membership, join today.

On the podcast this week, I interviewed addiction medicine doctor Dr. Steven Klein about how he is using GLP-1 in his practice to help his patients in recovery. This is such an important area of research for GLP1 use.

I also published another important episode about GLP1 and pain. I saw Dr. Asare Christian speak last year on this topic and knew he had to come on. I know GLP1s are helping so many reduce their chronic pain in an area that felt so hopeless.

I was also on a few other people’s podcasts sharing my story and perspectives, including the Sound Bites Nutrition Podcast and the Weight Medicine Podcast.

Over on YouTube, I shared a hair loss update and another video about setting a goal weight.

I am also running a giveaway with Harvest Snaps over on IG. It closes tomorrow, so enter today so you have a chance to win!