My journey into the world of dietary and nutritional wellness began at four years old, when my mother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer the first time. After her colon was surgically shortened, there were many foods she had to avoid. Five years later, the cancer returned, and as I grew older, I self-taught nutrition while helping my mother adjust to our new reality.
My mother received little nutritional advice, and what information she did receive from her medical team was often conflicting, confusing, time-consuming, and expensive. We lived in a humble and rural part of Colombia, which meant we had to be resourceful and improvise when it came to creating a new way of healthy eating.
As patients and caregivers know all too well, managing a major diagnosis can feel all-consuming. There is a nonstop stream of doctor’s appointments, prescriptions to pick up and side effects to handle, all while trying to live some semblance of a normal life. Like so many cancer patients, my mother continued her daily activities like working to earn a living and shopping to feed our family after her diagnosis. So, we needed a way to eat that was practical, accessible, and appetizing.
No one should have to endure the confusion and helplessness we felt when the devastating cancer diagnosis turned our lives upside down. Patients and their families deserve so much better, especially today when there is so much information available!
This is the problem I set out to correct. My family lost my mother to that terrible disease, and her memory ignited in me a passion for helping others through nutrition science. If our family had been presented with useful nutrition advice, our story might be very different.
Individuals deserve hope and the readily available resources and guidance needed to fight against the pain and uncertainty that illness brings. These resources exist today to help people live long and healthy lives, but they are not well integrated into our health profiles or adequately explained. Through my studies, I have learned to make them simple and accessible to all.
I earned a Master’s degree in nutrition education at American University and am now pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Science at Alabama A&M University in order to become a Registered Dietitian.
My university studies included a wide range of health and business-related disciplines that took me to Holland, Germany, Turkey, and Estonia. My work in the private sector and within the U.S. government gave me additional opportunities to travel to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South America, including Paraguay, Argentina, Jordan, and Kosovo, among others. These places are where I witnessed firsthand the nutritional challenges people face in other parts of the world.
I am an active volunteer for humanitarian aid and environmental programs, including an expedition to Antarctica and animal rescue programs with my father and grandfather in the United States. But my favorite volunteer program took me back to Colombia, the country where I was born. Inspired by my mother, who was a consummate volunteer for at-risk communities including farmers, ranchers, and an indigenous tribe, I recruited volunteers and helped generate corporate funding that reduced the infant mortality rates of a South American indigenous tribe from ~65% to under ~5% over a three-year period. We achieved this remarkable success primarily through introducing easy and practical nutrition and dietary solutions. It is a joy to see the healing power of nutrition in action.
I am a Certified Health Coach and give dietary, nutrition and health advice and support primarily for women at-risk of and those recovering from cancer, who are part of the Nueva Vida Organization. It has been a great honor to help people achieve their full potential through nutrition. These successes are driven by scientific knowledge made simple and practical, and Nutriologic makes that knowledge available to all. Additionally, I have served as an in-home health care supervisor, caring for people who are coping with a wide range of health challenges such as cancer, hemophilia, and obesity.
The kind of coaching and advice my mother and grandmother could have only dreamed of are now brought to life by Nutriologic.
Welcome to the world of dietary science made simple. I’m glad you’re here!
