Recently I sat down with Meg Hagar, a Holistic Registered Dietitian (RD) and Holistic Nutritionist based in New York City, to discuss her take on food and forming healthy habits.
Hagar’s practice is an evidence-based holistic program, meaning she stays informed with latest diet theories and her ideas are subject to change depending on evolving nutritional research. There is one constant, and it’s often the first step Hagar takes with her clients, “Remove all processed foods and eat a whole foods based diet.” With empathy she noted, “They can still have hummus even though it’s technically processed,” and there are a wide array of “healthy” food products, especially snacks, that fall on a similar spectrum as hummus. That may feel trickey—some processed foods are acceptable while others aren’t? But, really it’s simple and it all goes back to whole foods. Check the ingredients list, if it’s full of funky additives and preservatives, steer clear, (Hagar also warned against fried foods). That being said, some vitamins and minerals used to fortify foods may have long, fancy names but they’re not harmful. If you’re unsure about an ingredient, simply google it. It also isn’t too hard these days to find minimally processed, whole food products as there are new brands constantly popping up in supermarkets. Even better, you can make your own snacks at home and rely on the real unprocessed, whole foods—fruit, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds—Hagar suggested: “Go as bare bones as you can get.”
One reason processed foods do not promote optimal health is because they can mess with the gut, one of Hagar’s specialties. Additives like refined sugar, emulsifiers, salt and organic solvents can harm the human epithelial barrier (first point of contact for good and bad gut bacteria) by increasing intestinal permeability. This means there is less control on the substances passing through the gut wall and into the rest of the body. When unwelcomed, harmful substances, like toxins or additives, pass a breached epithelial barrier, it can trigger an immune response and cause inflammation. This leads into Hagar’s other specialty—skin. The gut microbiome has been shown to influence the skin microbiome, so when there is inflammation and leakage in the gut, intestinal microbiota metabolites can enter the bloodstream and disrupt skin homeostasis by accumulating.
Hagar originally discovered this correlation while helping people with skin issues as an esthetician. After seeing first hand how her clients’ diets were affecting issues like acne and eczema, she decided to return to school and earn her degree as a dietitian. Hagar also shared her experience as a ballet dancer with me, which is part of what initially sparked her interest in health and nutrition. Ballet is demanding of the body, and is also heavily focused on the dancer’s physical appearance. Hagar reflected, “I never understood how ballerinas were expected to lose weight while already so thin and having to jump and turn for hours.” In this environment, the importance of fueling her body with nourishing foods became clear, and eventually lead Hagar deeper into health sciences and nutrition.
The truth is elusive in the world of nutrition, so guidance from an expert like Hagar can be essential to success. From paleo to keto, from dairy to gluten, to fats, there’s an abundance of controversial foods and new diets with big claims that add a layer of difficulty when choosing what’s on your plate. Related to misinformation and searching through all the available information on the web, Hagar said, “A good chunk of the information on credible websites is actually accurate. The problem happens when people are reading things and applying it to themselves when they shouldn’t be.”
Our bodies are all so uniquely different, which is why Hagar doesn’t have a fixed outlook on any of the trends circulating in the media. Concerning diets like keto or paleo, she responded, “All of them have their place. It depends on what the clients goals are, and what medical conditions they’re dealing with. A keto or paleo diet may not be a good idea for someone who has high blood pressure or cholesterol, but it could be fine if they’re eating the right variety of foods.”
Same goes for coconut oil, which has been quite controversial recently, “When you’re trying to go into ketosis, it can be beneficial. But it’s still a saturated fat, so it’s not good for someone with high cholesterol or heart problems. I would recommend olive, walnut or avocado oil.” Another controversial item, gluten, is often regarded as a health trend, but Hagar warned that a lot of processed gluten free products can actually be worse for you, and she doesn’t recommend going gluten free unless medically intolerant.
One trend where Hagar is impressed by the research is intermediate fasting. However, she implements it in a “sustainable way,” meaning she doesn’t demand that her clients fast for one or two whole days. Instead, she promotes 8-10 hour eating windows and the rest is fasting. She does caution the practice for women because there can be interferences with hormones.
Lastly, regarding “superfoods,” a term that gets thrown around a lot in the food industry, Hagar admitted to occasionally using it for blogging, but concluded it’s a buzzword. She also questioned why things like cabbage aren’t given more of a spotlight. Ultimately, “it’s just not as exciting as acai.”
With the tools to do it right, you may be wondering, what does a dietitian eat in a day? For Hagar, her day usually starts with a slice of Ezekiel bread slathered with pesto and topped with a fried egg. On the side she might have a cup of fresh fruit. Hagar likes to prep meals so dinner and lunch usually look fairly similar. She mentioned making sautéed chickpeas with tomato paste and some spices like garam masala, cinnamon and cumin or making chili with beans, quinoa, tomatoes, spinach and celery. Laughing she said, “I eat a lot of quinoa, probably more than I should.” She also loves to roast broccoli with olive oil and nutritional yeast.
Of course, your diet doesn’t have to look exactly the same as Hagar’s. It also may take a long road of fine tuning to find a balance where your diet promotes health and happiness—inside and out. “Food is so personal” Hagar remarked. Her clients arrive with hopes to solve weight or gut issues, but there is also a whole other aspect of healing to overcome—the psyche. Hagar listed emotional eating, eating disorders, and stress related disorders, but generally categorized them as habits. She noted, “With my clients I can usually tell if we’re going to unravel habits or change the diet, usually it’s both. I always tell them we need to focus on the habits. The reason you got to where you are is not the food, but usually the habits behind the food.”
Sometimes when our schedule gets too busy and stress befalls, we seek comfort from food, especially those that are high in salt, fat and sugar. Hagar said, “Once you get hooked on that reward system (salt, fat and sugar), it’s really hard for people to change because there’s almost nothing like it.” So, how do you escape the cycle of stress, unhealthy food consumption and discontent? Here are some of Hagar’s tips for maintaining health and forming positive habits:
1. Plan!
Hagar recommends never leaving the house without a healthy snack to avoid desperate situations. She is also a fan of meal prepping to make busy weeks easier and ensure healthy options.
2. Eat more fermented foods
Hagar said, “They’re anti inflammatory and help re-establish the healthy gut flora we want to help improve the skin.” She keeps a large stash of sauerkraut in her fridge and tops it on almost everything.
3. Get around 7-8 hours of sleep
Recently Hagar has been studying functional nutrition, which includes aspects of our life unrelated to food. Of those aspects, sleep is often one of the biggest issues for her clients. Inconsistent or too little sleep can cause worse problems than just feeling groggy, Hagar explained, “There’s research showing poor sleep quality can cause dysbiosis in the gut.”
4. Balance first, organic second
If you’re new to eating healthy, it can be quite overwhelming and the concept of “organic” can just add another layer of stress. Hagar said, “For most people it’s about getting them to eat more vegetables and achieve balanced meals. Once we get them to that point, we can focus on organic because when we’re talking about gut healing, organic is pretty important.” Sources like the Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen are helpful to keep in mind and save some money at the store.
5. Food before supplements
Hagar said, “Supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry. So, for the most part, people are taking and buying supplements regardless of what we as dietitians say. We need to get our foot in the door and be a part of that conversation.” With this progressive mindset, Hagar is able to help her clients choose quality supplements, and educate them about their potential risks and benefits. She is often asked about multivitamins, and her response is: “We can get a lot of those vitamins through food, so I’d rather you try expanding your diet.” If the client continues to be deficient in something, then Hagar can recommend a specific supplement. Without proper guidance, she warned, supplements can be dangerous because “Studies have proved that some over the counter supplements are not made with the ingredients advertised.” The three vitamins she noted people are usually deficient in are vitamin D, B12 and magnesium. With a smile she recalled, “I was talking to a nutritionist about it once and she was like, ‘well magnesium is found in a lot of greens and I guess people don’t eat a lot of greens.’”
One concept Hagar spoke about that stuck with me is the personal aspect of food and health. Especially with “superfoods” and supplements, it can feel like we’re constantly looking for one golden answer that solves all our health problems. In reality, it’s a variety of long term habits that can change the way our body functions, and most importantly they’re individualized habits. What triggers one person’s skin to break out, gut to ache, or mood to shift varies, and the more we accept this, the more thoughtfully we can interpret and apply information from the vast range of media sources into our daily lives. For more information on Meg Hagar, check out her website!
