In honor of National Nutrition Month, we chatted with Alyssa Bixler, LD, about her career journey and what being a Dietician means to her.
My grandpa had diabetes when I was young, and I was very interested in how his food affected that. Later, as I grew up and became an athlete, I thought a lot about how food affected performance and became more and more fascinated by the numerous subject matters that food touches. Science, psychology, communication, socioeconomics, the list goes on. It’s so amazing that nutrition touches so many relevant parts of our lives! When I started taking nutrition classes, that interest and passion only grew, and now I am a full-time licensed Dietician.
After working in this field for over 20 years, I understand that each individual patient requires their own unique approach to nutrition. Before I meet with someone, I always take a look at their health history and anything else that would be helpful to know. I have a really unique opportunity as a healthcare professional to spend a good amount of time talking to and really getting to know my patients.
I always begin with an assessment of their current eating habits. The assessment doesn’t just stop there – we review a lot of social aspects of their life as well. How easily they can access fresh groceries, interpersonal relationships, food preferences and cultural lifestyles can all affect personal nutrition. From this discussion, we find them a healthy eating plan that’s going to fit into their life and help meet their goals.
My degree is specifically in medical nutrition, so I treat and educate patients on food as medicine.
Nutrition is not “one size fits all”. We work to find patients an in-depth, individualized plan because not every way of eating is right for those with different health needs. For example, research supports that you can eat a vegan diet and have good health results, or you can eat a higher meat protein/lower carbohydrate diet and have good health results. Those plans are kind of on opposite ends of a spectrum, but they may work differently from patient to patient. At the end of the day, the most important thing is getting the most health benefit from your food by finding a plan you can live with and stick to consistently.
Call 614.457.4827 to meet with Alyssa and start a nutrition plan that works for you!
