A Substack Introduction and Several Unrelated Disclosures
I once had a therapist who was nearing retirement. During our last session together, I asked her, “What are you most excited about when you retire?”
Without any pause to consider her answer, she said:
“To be able to tell people what I really think.”
And I thought, Why can’t we?
As clinicians, why can’t we tell people what we really think?
I want to.
And so I am. Here, on Substack.
I mean, there are perfectly good reasons not to tell people what we really think as clinicians, so let me back up a bit.
It would be unethical for me to tell a patient what diagnosis I think they’re likely to be dealt before it’s confirmed. I could be wrong.
It might be harsh to say, “If you’d just cut the bullshit and stop seeking medical advice from every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the internet with a bunch of followers but not a-one medical credential, we could get some things done.”
And while I’ve acquired plenty of tips, tricks, opinions, and lessons from 14+ years practicing clinical nutrition, sharing them professionally usually means citations, unbiased language, careful qualifications, and making damn sure I don’t say something categorically when the science doesn’t allow for it.
For good reason.
But sometimes I just want to riff.
To wax poetic. To ramble. To ping-pong some ideas back and forth. To tell you what I’m seeing in practice and what I think about it.
That’s why I’m here.
I’m certainly not looking to get cancelled, but I am looking for a place to share what I’ve learned through years of clinical practice and entrepreneurship in a way that feels useful, candid, and human.
And if something I write here helps you relate, feel heard, solve a problem, or think about something differently, I’ll feel pretty good about that.
Because we find ourselves in a strange place culturally, huh?
Nutrition information is more abundant than ever before.
Yet people have never been more confused.
Gut health is everywhere, having its moment as the hot topic.
Yet people are still suffering.
Athletes finally think it’s cool to fuel during training and events.
Yet many are still underfueled, perpetually injured, exhausted, and afraid of carbs.
We know more. Yet we seem to understand less.
So, whether you’re a fellow dietitian, a patient, an athlete, a clinician, a friend, a family member (hi, Mom!), or simply someone who enjoys falling down health-related internet rabbit holes at 11:00 at night: Hi. I’m happy you’re here.
Let’s riff.
Who am I, anyway?
I’ve spent the past 14+ years as a registered dietitian in private practice, helping adults and kids navigate everything from digestive disorders and chronic symptoms to athletic performance and the complicated relationship we all have with food.
I specialize in gastrointestinal disorders and sports & performance nutrition, but I’m also an entrepreneur at heart. I built my private practice, Lauren Cornell Nutrition, to operate much like a medical clinic, because I’ve always believed dietitians belong on the interdisciplinary medical team and that food is one of the modalities through which we can manage our health.
It’s been a wild ride. A successful one, thankfully. And I’ve got all kindsa things to share.
In the interest of full disclosure, here are a few things you should probably know about me:
I grew up on an island. Key Largo, Florida, specifically. I'm happiest in the sea, or within smelling distance of salt air.
I hate coffee. I realize this makes me a questionable Cuban.
Spanish was my first language. Then life happened, I lost most of it, and now I'm determined to earn it back one awkward conversation at a time.
Most of the time, I can't be bothered. Yet I'll endure great inconveniences to travel to obscure corners of the earth.
I love food more than I love cooking. I'm deeply fascinated by the culinary arts, but I treat my own cooking like an efficiency sport and will absolutely gamify dinner to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible.
I love long-haul flights. There are few things I enjoy more than having hours to myself, suspended somewhere between here and wherever I'm going, temporarily unreachable.
I swim with sharks. I love these animals and will travel to swim with different species. You can bet I’ve seen most viral shark-related content and Shark Week specials.
I'm fascinated by elite athletes. What makes them capable of doing things the rest of us would call impossible, especially the mind behind the performance, will forever captivate me. And I think we could all take a page from their books (or a step from their sprint, or whatever).
So...what is The DIGEST Digest?
The short answer:
It’s a place where nutrition science, clinical practice, human behavior, entrepreneurship, and real life meet.
The slightly longer answer:
There are conversations happening every day behind closed doors:
In clinical exam rooms. Behind the research. Inside training facilities. In grocery store aisles. In kitchens. Around dinner tables.
These are the places where the context lives: the little pieces of information that make everything else suddenly make sense.
The DIGEST Digest is my attempt to bring more of those conversations out into the open.
Not by adding more noise.
By helping make sense of it.
Because to “digest” means to break something down so it can be understood, absorbed, and actually used.
That’s what I hope we’ll do here.
I’ll bring what I know, what I’m learning, what I’m questioning, and probably a few things I haven’t quite made up my mind about yet.
You bring your questions, your experiences, your skepticism, and the things you’ve been trying to make sense of, too.
We’ll see what we can figure out together.
Now, let’s eat.