Riana is a Functional Medicine nutritionist that helps her clients make lasting and positive change toward a healthier life. She provides individuals with the essential tools to strengthen and recover from illness and develop a nourishing relationship with food.
Riana’s clinical focuses are:
- Cognitive health
- Digestive disorders
- Healthy aging and anti-inflammatory diets
- Women’s health (pre- and postnatal care / fertility / menopause)
- Metabolic conditions (Type II diabetes, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, PCOS)
- Therapeutic cooking and diets (including MIND, GAPS, low FODMAPs, SCD, GF/CF, elimination diets, etc.)
- Intuitive and mindful eating
- Emotional and disordered eating
- Sports nutrition
Riana loves food! We mean she really, really loves food. It is one of the greatest pleasures in life. She wants you to love food (again) too! She will encourage you to let go of guilt and fear around eating and instead savor and enjoy every bite of your meals. Her interest in food and nutrition started early; she grew up in a family that valued a home-cooked meal together. Whether it was working in the dirt in northern California alongside her grandparents learning to grow food, or experimenting with turning fresh, whole fruits and vegetables into nourishing meals with her parents, she loves all aspects of it. Witnessing how food can bring others together while simultaneously having powerful impacts on health, she originally wanted to pursue a career in the culinary arts. She even completed a 2 year certificate program while in high school with her heart set on attending culinary school on the east coast after graduation. However, forever the science nerd, and wanting to use both her creativity and left-brained analytical smarts, the field of human nutrition and biochemistry also lights her up. Once she learned there was a job where she could talk about food all day and help people without the grueling restaurant hours, she was IN!
Riana studied Clinical Nutrition & Food Science at the University of California at Davis and after several short stints of working in clinical research laboratories, organic farming, and the public school system, she went on to complete her Masters in Whole Foods Nutrition and Research at Bastyr University. She conducted her thesis on the health benefits dark chocolate, analyzing samples of cacao from all over the world.
Before returning to private practice, she directed a brain-health focused nutrition teaching kitchen, while cooking with and counseling families to treat a variety of cognitive and neurological disorders (Alzheimers, dementia, and cognitive impairment). Riana also worked as a health coach for a Seattle-based wellness company, honing her skills in integrating and translating comprehensive blood, genetic, hormone, and gut microbiome data to generate evidence-based and personalized plans for her patients focusing on all aspects of preventative health, including digestion, healthy aging, sleep and stress management in addition to nutrition and physical activity. She has worked as a culinary nutrition instructor, personal chef, and in professional kitchens throughout Seattle, yet what is most fulfilling for her is to work one on one with clients, supporting them in honing new skills as well as their sense of agency. Riana pairs her respect for scientific research alongside her passions for food and health, while taking a practical and realistic approach to your wellness that always emphasizes balance. Balanced blood sugar maintains your energy and mood levels, quiets cravings, and is at the heart of wellness and longevity. Balanced hormones allow you to feel greater vitality, improve your ability to more easily cope with life’s challenges, and feel like your best self again. And balance in your life creates the space for your behaviors to reflect your values, whether that is prioritizing your health, making time for self-care, or bringing excitement back to all parts of your life—professional, your family, relationships, food, etc.
Yet, throughout her many pursuits, balance has not always been Riana’s highest priority, personally. She has struggled with burnout, hormone imbalances, anxiety, and depression, all requiring her to repeatedly slow down, recalibrate, and develop better boundaries and means of self care. She has become a dedicated athlete, showing up to activity regularly and meeting her body where it is, rather than forcing herself through more depletion. More often than not, it involves slowing down and tuning in more: training smarter rather than training harder. Choosing adequate rest rather than draining herself to meet a deadline. Redefining her sense of achievement and concept of “enough.” More engagement, less deliberating. More tuning into what’s good, rather than what might have been. More acceptance, less judgment. Due to her personal work, she specializes in empowering people to create and maintain a healthy, full lifestyle supported by balanced nutrition, stress management, quality sleep, movement, and healthy relationships (whether that is with food, self or others).
Using compassionate guidance and careful listening, Riana partners with her clients to create personalized solutions. She looks at your sense of well-being from many dimensions including physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, social, environmental and intellectual health. No matter where you’re at in your journey, she will meet you where you are in the process!
