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However, our inherited food habits can impact our health, warranting a visit to see a nutrition expert.
Typically, when health is a factor, that expert should be a registered dietitian (RD).
Thats why cultural competency is essential, according toShana Spence, MS, RDN, CDN.
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You cannot tell someone that their food is unhealthy and expect results.
The dietitians attitude perpetuated the white is right belief that permeates the field.
The Mediterranean covers a vast array of cultures and ethnicities, she says.
This contributes to so many people thinking that their cultural foods arent healthy.
A better approach, Spence believes, would be meeting clients where they are.
That is what Smith says made the difference with the food banks second dietitian, who was also white.
She went into that Latinx community, which was primarily Puerto Rican, and asked how to make sofrito.
She was then able to help these clients create a salt-free version that a grandfather could still enjoy.
Professors Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel, who authored the cookbookDecolonize Your Diethave done just that.
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For instance, what and how Black people have eaten for years has been influenced byslavery.
Those survival techniques, which include habits like eating everything on your plate, had lasting impacts on health.
Nina Basu, who is half Indian, has seen a few dietitians to manage her eating disorder.
Though she is seeing a white weight loss doctor, she finally doesnt feel restricted from eating cultural foods.
His approach is more intuitive, and Basu feels that her overeating has decreased.
There are more ways to be healthy outside of eating a salad.
Jess Sims
Jess Sims also had to find a dietitian to manage a recent binge eating disorder diagnosis.
When I ask patients, What does healthy eating look like to you?
they often say salads or not eating rice of any kind, she says.
What many dont realize is that eating well does not have one look to it.
All foods, including cultural foods, can fit into a healthy way of eating.
Waterss approach to changing a clients eating habits does not include eliminating cultural foods.
Its important to incorporate foods that reflect our culture, but to balance them, she says.
I like to help clients to increase their mindfulness surrounding their food choices to help them live well.
Both of these places, according to Spence, focus on certain demographics, which seeps into counseling clients.
People will choose to see someone not eating vegetables but ignore redlining and lack of food access.
This needs to be taught from the beginning.
Recognizing bias and learning about cultures other than ones own are also imperative.
The unsuccessful dietitian came to teach, she says of her experience with the dietitians at the food bank.
The one who made the lasting impact was there to learn.
The tools for exacting change are right within the community, if only dietitians are willing to listen.
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