Emily the Period RD
Bio
Canadian Registered Dietitian with a special focus in reproductive medicine & gynecology. I write about nutrition for periods, hormones and everything in between!
Stories (110)
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The Nutrition Basics for Menopause
As usual, no one is safe from the menopause grift train. I had a discovery call with a potential client, who was looking for nutrition support for weight concerns in menopause. They had noticed some weight gain over the span of a couple years, aligning with when they started the menopause transition. In response to this, they reached out to a local “certified menopause coach” (you and I are asking ourselves the same question here - “huh?”), who told them that dairy was toxic, they needed to avoid gluten and if they went to bed hungry it was all in their head. And so, feeling frustrated (and hungry as all holy you know what), they reached out to me. Now, I don’t provide weight management or weight loss advice, but I do help people build a life for healthy hormones using a non-diet approach!
By Emily the Period RDabout a year ago in Longevity
Supplements You Desperately DON'T Need
Ever opened Instagram and felt attacked by ads for "miracle" supplements that promise to solve all your problems? Yeah, me too - dietitians aren’t immune from the pressure (I’m a human being too!). The supplement industry is very much like that one auntie who won't stop recommending things you didn't ask for.
By Emily the Period RDabout a year ago in Longevity
What Your Hunger Cues are Trying to Tell You
If you’re learning about intuitive eating, you’ve probably heard the big focus on listening to your hunger cues - especially if you’ve experienced lots of dieting over the years. Learning to ignore your hunger cues is often a tactic used by popular diets to restrict your food choices and enforce following strict guidelines around food volume and timing. Dismantling this idea can take a long time, and even once you have the basics down, hunger can still feel so strange!
By Emily the Period RDabout a year ago in Longevity
Omega-3s and Period Pain
If you’re experiencing period pain, there’s a good chance you’ve either heard about or read about omega-3s and their anti-inflammatory effects. Listen, I’m all for doing some of your own reading to build some generic understanding, but Dr. Google is very rarely your friend (and the misinformation in the nutrition world is abundant).
By Emily the Period RDabout a year ago in Longevity
How the Ovaries Produce Eggs
So much of hormone-focused nutrition, especially in the context of fertility and healthy menstrual cycles, is the emphasis on egg quality. “Eat these 5 foods to boost egg quality”, “take this supplement for optimal egg quality”, and so on, and so on. I think a lot of that content is click-bait (because “egg quality” is a bit of a misnomer, but we can talk about that another time) and we miss the most important part - how do eggs actually come to be?
By Emily the Period RDabout a year ago in Longevity
Things to Know About Taking Testosterone
Happy Pride Month! Pride has a long and rich history, following the Stonewall riots in 1968 but beginning in many smaller moments earlier than this. We have a lot of people and populations to thank for their fight and sacrifices to be where we are today, and have a lot of work to continue doing. Talking about Pride month is an entire post in and of itself (and while I’d be honoured to write about it, I know for a fact there are other voices that need to be amplified over mine - I’ll be linking a few great resources at the end here).
By Emily the Period RD2 years ago in Longevity
What Are Luteal Phase Defects?
If you’ve gone through fertility treatments in the pursuit of building your family, you may have heard of the term “luteal phase defects”. It’s a term that can come with lots of confusion, which leaves folks feeling lost - how do you treat something that isn’t well understood?
By Emily the Period RD2 years ago in Families
Ambiguous Loss & Body Image
Something that comes up in my work with clients often (and that I didn’t anticipate ever seeing as a dietitian) is the desire to improve body image while also feeling really frustrated that the body isn’t getting smaller via nutrition and self-care. More and more I’ve come to identify this as part of grief and loss work, and as I was pursuing my Graduate Certificate in Sexual Health a term that came up was “ambiguous loss”.
By Emily the Period RD2 years ago in Longevity
The 4 Phases of the Menstrual Cycle
It’s a new year, so it’s time for a refresher! Knowing what to expect from the menstrual cycle can be incredibly supportive - and while I wish I could say sexual health education talks about periods adequately, sadly that would be a lie.
By Emily the Period RD2 years ago in Longevity
What to Expect from a Reproductive Health Dietitian
Working with a dietitian who has experience in reproductive health care can be an incredible way to prioritize your well-being and unlearn diet culture messages about food and the body. However, if you’re not sure what to expect from their care and you forgot to ask in a discovery call (or forgot to book one!), this is a quick guide to some common expectations you can have going in!
By Emily the Period RD2 years ago in Longevity
