November 1, 2018
Our featured member for this month is Maggie Moon, MS, RD! Maggie is a registered dietitian, author, and health communications specialist with past lives as university faculty and supermarket RD. She helps global brands promote the health benefits of wholesome foods, from pistachios to pomegranates. In addition, she recently authored two evidence-based nutrition books for consumers – one on the MIND diet, and another on clinical elimination diets. She is currently working on her third book (due out in 2019).
What is your area of practice and how do you incorporate integrative and functional nutrition into your work?
I practice food-first evidence-based nutrition communications. I hadn't really self-identified as a integrative and functional dietitian until DIFM helped clarify what that meant. What I learned was I've been one all along. Whether I'm writing an article or a book or being interviewed by a reporter, I can't help but think in systems, look upstream for answers, and consider holistic mind-body therapies.
What are some of the results you have seen since integrating functional nutrition into your practice area?
While I am not a clinician who sees patients one on one, what I have seen is that my audience responds positively to integrative and functional nutrition content. People aren't a collection of compartmentalized issues where you can just solve for the nutrition box. So of course they appreciate being seen as the complex people they are with multiple determinants of their health behaviors and outcomes.
How does your culture influence your work?
I grew up in a Korean-American household in southern California. As I reflect back, I can see how that has influenced my work. My Korean immigrant parents still run a successful acupuncture practice, which gave me early exposure to and kept me open-minded toward health care strategies beyond western medicine. Growing up in California with so much fresh produce (transformed daily into Korean dishes), gave my plate and palate a sense of place and respect for culturally relevant food solutions, which is so important to patient-centered care in diverse populations.
Where have you completed most of your training in integrative and functional nutrition?
I did my graduate work and dietetic internship at Columbia University Teachers College, with a focus on inquiry-based nutrition education that applied research to practice in New York City communities. Since then I have attended conferences that incorporate integrative and functional nutrition into their programming such as Food as Medicine and the Harvard-led Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives hosted at the Culinary Institute of America.
What advice would you give anyone interested in learning more about integrative and functional nutrition?
The DIFM website has excellent resources, from the "Who is DIFM" homepage video to the "About" page, which includes links to a free "Integrative and Functional Nutrition Toolkit" with many more resources to learn more about this kind of approach to practice.
Thank you for sharing with us this month, Maggie! We look forward to checking out the new book, too!