Dietitian/Nutritionist

Kirsten has always been drawn to learning about healthy living.  She considered becoming a nurse but due to her interest in nutrition, decided to become a dietitian.  She started her career working in Continuing Care Retirement Communities and continues to enjoy working as a part of a team supporting the residents.  Her yearning to learn more about how nutrition can support addressing root causes of health issues led her to learning about Functional Medicine.  She studied and became a Functional Medicine Nutritionist Specialist. 

She then applied that knowledge to her own journey with acne.  She recalls how the acne was treated initially with Accutane and antibiotics and that the role of nutrition was dismissed.  This treatment did not have consistent results.  She decided to utilize her knowledge of Functional Medicine, eliminated sugar and dairy and worked on her microbiome.  She found that she felt so much better and her acne was finally under control.

Since that time, she has worked with many patients and finds it fulfilling to explore root causes of their issues and uses food-based recommendations and targeted supplementation to support their health and well-being. She continues to love learning about topics related to Integrative Functional Medicine, food as medicine and nutraceuticals.

Kirsten is happily married with 2 children.  She enjoys spending time with her family and dog.  She loves reading, the outdoors and hiking.

Kirsten incorporates her knowledge of Integrative Functional Nutrition, her ability to gather the needed information from the patient and her experience in the interpretation of various functional testing results.  She then takes all of this into account when dealing with each individual and their particular life issues, preferences and concerns.

Kirsten is caring and is really passionate about making a difference with those she serves. Her goal is to create a partnership with each person, taking into account all aspects of the patient’s life when helping them achieve their health goals with nutrition, targeted nutraceuticals and lifestyle approaches.

Her desire is to provide guidance and support in helping individuals figure out a pattern of eating that enables them to feel their very best both physically and emotionally.  When appropriate, she also incorporates aspects of the mindful and intuitive eating philosophy and advocates patients listen to the feedback their body provides regarding specific foods or ways of eating that may or may not be working for them.

Kirsten understands the role that proper nutrition has on a person’s health and overall well-being.  She believes nutrition recommendations need to be tailored to a person’s individual lifestyle, goals and unique nutritional needs. There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to nutrition and lifestyle recommendations.

Functional Nutrition strives for client-centered care where we spend time with our patients, take an in-depth history, and look at how different factors (from the environment and genetics, to diet and lifestyle) interact to help identify underlying causes of your health condition.

Functional Nutrition looks beyond the food you eat, to the way you digest and use nutrients, even on a cellular level. It addresses how our unique genetic make-up interacts with our environment, and how influences like inflammation and oxidative stress underlie chronic disease.

Integrative Functional Medical Nutrition Therapy (IFMT) is different from traditional dietetics in that it utilizes an expanded nutritional assessment and history. There is an increased foundation of training in dietary supplement use (vitamin/mineral, herbal, and other supplements) and how to use them responsibly.  Laboratory assessment is reviewed through a Functional Medicine “lens” and there is utilization of specialty Functional Nutrition testing at times. The area of toxicity and detoxification and how to safely “cleanse” without throwing our bodies out of balance is also addressed.   

I utilize many diet therapies (of course!) like anti-inflammatory diets, keto-genic diets, elimination diets, and “gut healing” diets. All of the testing, supplements, and therapies are individualized to YOU and your unique needs! No one diet or therapy can fit all individuals, and I recognize that!  My goal is to partner with you to help you move forward on your journey to health and wellness.

Kirsten creates a partnership with her patients and tailors her counseling and recommendations to the individual.  She utilizes her knowledge and skills combined with her compassion and listening to arrive at an individual personalized plan to support healthy weight loss.  She understands that there are many variables that can affect one’s ability to lose weight and that just looking at the BMI and not the person can often be counter-productive.

She takes into account that there may be hormonal imbalances, food sensitivities and/or nutrient deficiencies affecting one’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.

She also examines factors that could be interfering with weight loss such as diet composition, eating habits, psychological factors (emotional eating, binge eating, etc.), overall stress and activity levels.

She understands that “dieting generally fails” while developing new strategies, and incorporating behaviors and habits for healthy living creates lasting changes of enhanced well-being and weight loss is part of the natural byproduct of the process.