Beans & Legumes

Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.

In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.

Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.

She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.

Justin Laube, MD, is a board-certified integrative and internal medicine physician, a teacher, and a consultant with extensive expertise in integrative health, medical education, and trauma healing.

He graduated with a bachelor's in biology from the University of Wisconsin and a medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. During medical school, he completed a graduate certificate in integrative therapies and healing practices through the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. He completed his three-year residency training in internal medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles on the primary care track and a two-year fellowship in integrative East-West primary care at the UCLA Health Center for East-West Medicine.

He is currently taking a multiyear personal and professional sabbatical to explore the relationship between childhood trauma, disease, and the processes of healing. He is developing a clinical practice for patients with complex trauma, as well as for others going through significant life transitions. He is working on a book distilling the insights from his sabbatical, teaching, and leading retreats on trauma, integrative health, mindfulness, and well-being for health professionals, students, and the community.

Previously, Dr. Laube was an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA Health Center for East-West Medicine and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he provided primary care and integrative East-West medical consultations. As part of the faculty, he completed a medical education fellowship and received a certificate in innovation in curriculum design and evaluation. He was the fellowship director at the Center for East-West Medicine and led courses for physician fellows, residents, and medical students.

Karen E. Todd, RD, CSCS, EP-C, CISSN, is a registered dietitian and strength and conditioning specialist committed to evidence-based education in lifelong wellness, sports nutrition, and healthy aging.

With more than 30 years of experience in nutritional education, dietary supplements, functional foods, and exercise performance, she specializes in nutrition and exercise performance communications, providing expert insights to both media and consumers. She serves as a nutrition communicator, speaker, spokesperson, and brand consultant, and currently works in nutraceutical ingredient innovation and development, focusing on how nutrients and ingredients support health, performance, and wellness across the lifespan.

Karen also runs TheSupplementDietitian.com, a free online resource dedicated to helping consumers navigate the world of dietary supplements. The site provides science-based education on how supplements are regulated, how to identify safe and effective products, and how to fill nutritional gaps when diet alone isn’t enough.

Her experience spans clinical nutrition, exercise performance, and product development, giving her a broad perspective on the scientific, practical, and regulatory considerations that shape the supplement and functional food industries. Karen is a contributing guest blogger for Psychology Today’s “Feed Your Brain” column, a scientific advisory board member for Agro Food Industry Hi Tech, and a board member for Council for Responsible Nutrition, a leading professional organization in the nutraceutical space.

She is widely recognized for her ability to translate complex research into clear, evidence-based insights that help students, practitioners, and consumers make informed decisions about nutrition and supplementation.

Kara Andrew, RDN, LDN, is the director of health promotion for Memorial Hospital in Carthage, Illinois. She is also licensed as an exercise physiologist and certified in lifestyle medicine by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Her experience includes corporate wellness, teaching for the American College of Sports Medicine, sports nutrition, weight management, integrative medicine, oncology support, and dialysis.

She earned her master's in exercise and nutrition science at Lipscomb University.

Andrew has served as a president and board member of the Nashville Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She was recently elected a co-chair of the fitness and medicine group in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Allison Buttarazzi, MD, is board-certified in internal medicine and lifestyle medicine, and is a certified health and well-being coach. In her primary care practice, Dr. Buttarazzi focuses on lifestyle medicine to help her patients improve their health and longevity, and her passion is helping patients prevent and reverse chronic diseases (like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes) by improving their lifestyle habits.

She is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine and completed a residency at Maine Medical Center. Diagnosed with celiac disease during medical school, she realized the power of improving one's health through diet and lifestyle habits, which she later incorporated into her practice.

Lynn Grieger is a registered dietitian-nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist, certified personal trainer, and certified health and wellness coach. She completed requirements to become a registered dietitian at Valparaiso University in 1987 and completed a dietetic internship at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Illinois, in 1988. 

Lynn brings her expertise in nutrition, exercise, and behavior change to her work in helping people reach their individual health and fitness goals. In addition to writing for Everyday Health, she has also written for websites and publications like Food and Health Communications, Today's Dietitian, iVillage.com, and Rodale Press. She has a passion for healthy, nutrient-dense, great-tasting food and for being outdoors as much as possible — she can often be found running or hiking, and has completed a marathon in every state.

Rachel MacPherson, CPT, is a freelance writer, content strategist, and nutrition coach in the wellness space with nearly a decade of experience. She lives on the east coast of Canada.

Andra Picincu is a certified nutritionist, personal trainer, and content writer with more than 15 years of experience. She holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and in marketing and international business, and she’s dedicated to helping people improve their health through sustainable lifestyle changes.

She began her writing career when she was in college. Over the next few years, she took the steps to become a nutritionist and personal trainer, which allowed her to focus on these areas in her work. Today she contributes regularly to major health and lifestyle publications, including The List, Health Digest, Everyday Health, Aging in Place, and Stack. Her expertise revolves around sports nutrition, healthy eating, fitness, and mental well-being.

Outside of work, Andra spends as much time as possible outdoors—hiking, riding horses, pet sitting, and exploring the Nordic countries. With a strong interest in Scandinavian culture, she travels often to Denmark and neighboring regions to study the everyday habits that keep people there among the happiest and healthiest in the world.

Monique Richard is an award-winning registered and licensed dietitian-nutritionist (RDN, LDN) and nationally recognized nutrition expert who brings a deeply integrative, person-centered lens to nutrition and lifestyle medicine. She is the owner of Nutrition-In-Sight, a private practice providing personalized nutrition counseling, media communications, and consulting.

Monique holds a master of science (MS) in clinical nutrition with a minor in psychology, is an Integrative and functional nutrition certified practitioner (IFNCP), and a registered yoga teacher (RYT), offering a uniquely holistic approach to health and healing.

Monique serves as faculty at the University of Western States (UWS), where she teaches a class on success and sustainability in private practice to doctoral students in UWS’s doctor of clinical nutrition (DCN) program. She has worked in outpatient primary care settings serving individuals and families across the lifespan and health spectrum and is a sought-after writer, speaker, and media contributor. She is a former national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and completed a fellowship with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation developing a first-ever advanced training program in integrative and functional nutrition.

Her passion for food security, sustainability, sharing food stories, and preserving cultural heritage have led to professional contributions that have included international teaching, public health outreach, and academic presentations in Haiti, Egypt, China, India, Italy, and Israel. She has held numerous leadership roles in a variety of professional, nonprofit and public health organizations.

Serving as a past president of the International Affiliate of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (IAAND), Monique continues to lead and advocate across clinical, academic, and media spaces, striving to make evidence-based, practice-informed nutrition accessible, engaging, and actionable for all.

Roxana Ehsani, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, is a Washington, DC–based registered dietitian-nutritionist, board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, and media spokesperson, consultant, and content creator for food and nutrition brands.

Ehsani has appeared as a food and nutrition expert for television stations across the nation and in national publications, including Runner's World, Women's Health, and Glamour, and is a contributing writer for EatingWell. She has a strong background in sports nutrition and has worked with professional, Olympic, collegiate, and high school teams and individual athletes.

Kelly Kennedy is a licensed dietitian-nutritionist with over 14 years of experience in digital media. She previously managed and oversaw nutrition content, recipe development, meal planning, and diet and nutrition coaching at Everyday Health. She developed and reviewed various meal plans, books, slideshows, and online tools, and oversaw the creation of more than 500 unique recipes. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master's degree from the State University of New York College at Oneonta.

Kennedy enjoys anything that takes her outside, from gardening and playing in the yard with her kids to hiking and even feeding her pet chickens.

Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN, is the founder and lead dietitian at Maya Feller Nutrition. In her practice, her team provides medical nutrition therapy and nutrition coaching for hormone and metabolic health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mood disorders, developmental disabilities, disordered eating, and more.

Feller believes in providing inclusive nutrition education from an anti-bias, patient-centered, culturally humble approach to help people make informed food choices. May shares her approachable, food-based solutions with millions of people on her new YouTube channel as the host of Where Wellbeing Meets Flavor, which includes cooking demos, exclusive interviews, and Q&As; in her on-demand master classes and courses, regular speaking engagements, writing, and social platform posts; and as a national nutrition expert on Good Morning America.

Feller is also on the advisory board for Shape and Parents; has been on the Today show and Tamron Hall; and has appeared in The New York Times, Mindbodygreen, Food Network, Martha Stewart, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Cooking Light, Eating Well, Prevention, Glamour, Self, and other publications.

She is the author of Eating From Our Roots: 80+ Healthy Home-Cooked Favorites From Cultures Around the World and The Southern Comfort Food Cookbook.

Dr. Claudia Thompson is an assistant teaching professor at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions and a practicing registered dietitian. She has worked at Mayo Clinic Phoenix and consulted as a sports dietitian for professional teams, including the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Arizona Cardinals, and Milwaukee Brewers. She has authored and reviewed nutrition content for Livestrong.com and has taught and developed nutrition curricula and study-abroad programs.

Grant Chu, MD, is an associate clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Chu is also associate director of inpatient East-West consult services at the UCLA Health hospitals.

He's board-certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a diplomate of the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (formerly the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine).

He received a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Brown University, where he also earned his medical degree. He has a master's in acupuncture and oriental medicine from South Baylo University and a master's in business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles and a fellowship at the Center for East-West Medicine at UCLA. He has held academic appointments at the University of California in Irvine and the University of Queensland in Australia.

Julie Cunningham is a registered dietitian-nutritionist and a certified diabetes care and education specialist.

Cunningham received a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. She subsequently completed a master's degree in public health nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Cunningham has worked in women's and children's health, cardiology, and diabetes. She has written for Abbott Nutrition News, Edgepark Medical HealthInsights, diaTribe, Babylist, and others. She is also the author of 30 Days to Tame Type 2 Diabetes.

A resident of beautiful western North Carolina, Cunningham is an avid reader who enjoys yoga, travel, and all things chocolate.

Janet Renee, MS, RD, is a registered dietitian nutritionist with over a decade of experience in clinical practice and health communications, specializing in weight management, sports nutrition, and medical nutrition therapy.

Sylvie Tremblay holds a master's degree in molecular and cellular biology, and has years of experience as a cancer researcher and geneticist.

Jill is a registered dietitian and health writer based in Honolulu. She spent the early part of her career working in a traditional setting as a clinical dietitian in a hospital, then transitioned into management. Jill began her career as a health writer in 2007 while working as a clinical nutrition manager in Florida. She became a full-time writer in 2010 after the birth of her first child. Jill has written for numerous publications, including Livestrong; Eat This, Not That!; Fortune Recommends; Hone Health; and Diabetes Self-Management.

Sylvia Klinger, DBA, MS, RD, CPT, is an internationally recognized nutrition expert who is relentlessly passionate about helping people fall in love with creating and enjoying delicious, safe, and nutritious foods.

As a food and nutrition communications professional, Dr. Klinger is a global nutrition professor, award-winning author, and the founder of Hispanic Food Communications.

She is on the board at Global Rise to build a formal community nutrition program as part of an ambitious initiative to create a regenerative food system in Uganda in partnership with tribal and community leaders. This program included an extensive training session on food safety and sanitation that displayed cultural sensitivity and various communication strategies and incentives to spread these important food safety and sanitation messages into the communities.

Her Hispanic background fuels her passion for nutrition, leading her to empower and encourage those in her community through the foods they enjoy in their kitchens. At the same time, she understands everyone’s needs are different and seeks to individualize nutrition and exercise to best fit each person and their journey to a happy, safe, and healthy life.

Her latest book, The Little Book of Simple Eating, was published in 2018 in both Spanish and English.

In her spare time, Klinger explores food and culture all over the world with her family, realizing the power a healthy lifestyle has to keep people together.

Lauren is a Registered Dietitian with over 6 years of experience in the field. She has experience in food service management, nutrition counseling, and WIC. Lauren graduated from Western Michigan University and completed her dietetic internship at Michigan State University. You can see her writing work at www.laurenarmstrongrdn.com

Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.

Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.

Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.