Episode 81 - Abby Langer busts a bunch of nutritional myths and misinformation
My guest this time is Abby Langer - Abby has been a Registered Dietitian since 1999 - she has worked extensively both in clinical nutrition, and nutrition media and consulting, has won awards for her teaching and has served for three years on her regulatory college’s council. She’s passionate about all aspects of nutrition, from physiology to teaching to cooking. Her approach to nutrition is permissive and relaxed, and she is a true believer in living your best life without dieting. She has written in depth about debunking fad diets and nutrition myths - some of which we’ll be covering in this interview!
We kick off talking about the ‘firehose’ of nutrition information available on social media that can be either overwhelming, misleading, or both. Abby recommends some dependable accounts to follow over on Instagram (other than her own of course - and these are listed out below).
We also cover:
Why she doesn’t recommend intermittent fasting or ‘no carb’ diets
The cultural pressures to stay slim and not age visibly
Why alcohol may be sabotaging our efforts to improve nutrition, and the uptick she has seen in women’s alcohol consumption over her career
Inflammation - what is, and isn’t ‘inflammatory’ and why the internet loves to demonize specific ingredients
Eggs are great (happily for me, because I’m a huge egg fan)
Why dietary fibre is the unsung hero that needs a better PR team, and how to get more of it
Why she doesn’t feed her family organic food
‘Red Flags’ to look out for when consuming content online about nutrition
Her ‘pet peeve’ nutritional nonsense
And finally her top three tips for midlife
You can find Abby at https://abbylangernutrition.com/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/langernutrition
The other accounts Abby recommends are:
https://www.instagram.com/bdccarpenter/
https://www.instagram.com/soheefit/
https://www.instagram.com/drjengunter/
https://www.instagram.com/amanda.thebe/ (you can listen to my interview with Amanda here: https://middlingalong.com/episodes/middling-along-4-amanda-thebe-on-why-strength-training-is-so-critical-for-midlife-women/)