Hello,
I am a Registered Associate Nutritionist with specialty in global public health nutrition and health promotion. My main focus as a nutrition practitioner is to help people reconnect with food in ways that honour both their health and their heritage. So my approach is personalised and culture-centred. I blend evidence-based nutrition guidance with an understanding of the traditions, values, and lived experiences that shape the way we eat. I believe that reclaiming your nutrition means more than following a plan, it is rather finding balance, confidence and wellbeing on your own terms. in to provide culturally inclusive guidance to people from diverse backgrounds.
Qualifications & Professional Affiliations
PhD Researcher & JMS Scholar, University of Glasgow
MSc Global Public Health Nutrition (with Distinction)
Registered With Association for Nutrition (AfN)
Member of World Public Health Nutrition Association
What drove me to nutrition?
Personalised nutrition is a necessity,
not a luxury
My background has always been in public health, but my interest in nutrition began when I encountered my own digestive health issues which required me to dial-in my nutrition for better outcome. For most part, I was left to figure it out on my own. When nutrition advise was given, the recommendations did not align with my preferences, making it challenging to stick to.
What I wished the most at that moment was to have had a nutrition counsellor who taught me how to nourish my body for my condition using the foods that were acceptable to my palate.
I had no luck in that department so I decided that person was going to be me. I returned to graduate school to get my post-graduate degree in public health nutrition. Now I am in the position where I could help people like me make sense of their health journey without the added pressure of abandoning the foods that bring them joy.
Why did I start Heritage Nutrition?
I wanted to create an inclusive space where people from diverse backgrounds are empowered to make their food choices
work for them rather than against them.
I believe nutrition is a major component to a healthy lifestyle, but not if you take away the emotional and socio-cultural attachments that go along with food. As a woman who is deeply connected to my Ethiopian heritage, abandoning the cultural foods I grew up eating is quite simply unthinkable.
In a time where half of the ingredients in the foods we purchase are alien to us, I cherish growing up knowing where precisely my food came from, and that most, if not all, of what I ate was processed and prepared a few feet away from me.
Through Heritage Nutrition, my mission is to encourage my clients to not only take pride in their traditional diets, but also preserve the values learned from diet-related customary practices.
What's my approach to health and nutrition?
Hollistic and Integrative
Naturally, what you get is a truly personalised nutrition where we analyse your dietary practices in the context of your overall lifestyle and set goals that aligns with your unique dietary and health needs.
At its core, Heritage Nutrition is about providing our clients with sustainable solution to nutritional health. This is why we do not promote a diet-based approach and quick fixes to our clients’ concerns. Thankfully, the positive side-effect of a holistic & integrative approach is a lasting success to many of our clients’ goals.
Five Randoms About Me
I love outdoorsy things like long walks and hikes
I am an introvert at heart, extrovert on cue
I am a proud recipient of the VInspired regional award for HIV/AIDS support
I am also a recipient of the outstanding graduate award in MSc Global Public health Nutrition
If it is about a documentary, then i’m all ears
