Diana Rodgers, RD, LDN is a “real food” Licensed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist living on a working organic farm in New England.
She runs an active nutrition practice where she helps people with weight, metabolic, and intestinal issues recover their health through diet and lifestyle. She’s also an author, host of The Sustainable Dish Podcast, and the mom of two active kids. She speaks at universities and conferences internationally about nutrition and sustainability, social justice, animal welfare and food policy issues. She’s also working on a new book and film project, Sacred Cow, exploring the important role of animals in our food system.
Diana is the Consulting Dietitian to several gyms and also to: Nom Nom Paleo, Whole30, Robb Wolf, Savory Institute, The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, and is a board member of Animal Welfare Approved, Chris Kresser’s Adapt Health Coach Training Program, and Mark Sisson’s Primal Health Coach Program. She contributes regularly to several blogs and her work has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Outside Magazine, Mother Earth News and MindBodyGreen.
Learn more about Diana’s new film project here.
My story:
Me, as a toddler, eating a large bag of gluten
As a child, I was sick and underweight. My doctor thought my stomach pain was from a lactose intolerance and I was told to drink soy formula instead of cow’s milk. I was always hungry, suffered intense nose bleeds, and had low energy and muscle tone.
In high school, my first summer job was on a farm on Long Island, working both in the fields and at the roadside stand. This began my passion of food and farming.
My digestive issues were really starting to become a major issue in my mid-20’s. I mentioned to my new doctor that I had lactose intolerance and she asked me more questions about my digestion. I told her I thought it was nerves or maybe IBS, but luckily, she knew enough to run a blood test for Celiac Disease. I couldn’t believe it came back positive. I also had an endoscopy, which confirmed it. How could someone be allergic to WHEAT? I mean, I ate it three times a day. Toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner. I decided to take one weekend to eat all the wheat I wanted, and have never intentionally consumed gluten since.
Two weeks living gluten-free changed my life. The problem is, I ate gluten-free toast or gluten-free cereal for breakfast, a gluten-free sandwich for lunch, and gluten free pasta for dinner. I’d wash down dinner with a gluten-free beer. My car was filled with gluten-free snack bars. I was starving all of the time. If I didn’t eat every couple of hours, I was miserable. I had intense headaches, got shaky and saw red if I skipped a meal. I was addicted to food! I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with our first child and was certain I was destined for type 2 diabetes very soon.
For my second pregnancy, I followed a Weston A Price diet, taking cod liver oil and eating lots of pasture-based animal products. I still ate grains but soaked them first and really focused on increasing my animal protein and fat intake. I tested negative for gestational diabetes with that pregnancy. My desire to make sure my children received optimum nutrition motivated me to attend the Weston A. Price conference in the fall of 2008. I stocked products like lard and real sauerkraut. I read every book I could find on nutrition and became overwhelmed and confused with all of the information.
In late 2009, I enrolled with the Nutritional Therapy Association and now hold a certification in Nutritional Therapy. Towards the end of my course, I read “The Paleo Solution” by Robb Wolf. It completely changed my life. I learned how to balance my blood sugar and further reduce irritating foods. My food cravings and shaky feeling and headaches between meals disappeared. My athletic performance dramatically improved. I no longer felt like a slave to my next snack or meal. My food addictions were gone!
I now live on an organic farm in New England farm that operates a vegetable and meat CSA program, a strong education program with the local schools, sells produce to restaurants and local schools, donates excess produce to a community to meal program, and sponsors low income shares to those who can’t afford our CSA.
I continue to learn more about nutrition and sustainability issues through conferences, books and some generous mentors. I’ve never felt happier or stronger, and I am so excited to spread the word about nutrient dense, sustainable nutrition and to bring to light some of the issues facing our food system today.
I love helping people learn how to better nourish themselves and their families, through one-on-one consults and workshops. If you’d like to learn more about how to work with me, click here.
