Meet The Daily Crunch Dietitian

We interviewed our Daily Crunch dietitian, Deneen Schaudies, who is a registered dietitian and licensed nutritionist from Nashville, TN. Read on to learn more about Deneen's expertise, a nutrition tip, her favorite benefit of sprouting, and more! 

Q: How long have you been a registered dietitian? 

A: I received my license as dietitian in 2012, so coming up on 10 years!

Q: What's the difference between a dietitian and nutritionist? 

A: Dietitians are certified to treat clinical conditions, whereas nutritionists are not always certified. 

Q: What inspired you to become a dietitian?

A: I ran a marathon my senior year of high school and witnessed first hand how significantly my body and performance was affected by the food I ate. It began very personally, but as I learned more, I was compelled to educate and heal others!

Q: What's your specialty? How does that play into your role at Daily Crunch?

A: My specialty is working with children -- pediatric practices and conditions. A huge part of being a dietitian is working with parents and families. Experience with families has taught me so much about the importance of education... you cannot just tell someone to eat a certain way. They need to understand the why. Communicating the benefits of sprouting is a huge part of my role at DCS.

Q: What's your favorite thing about being a dietitian? 

A: I love knowing what my body needs...while at the same time understanding that every body has unique needs. One size does not fit all when it comes to your diet. I love watching patients grow... most recently I had brunch with a former 1 lb newborn premie. It's amazing to see a little girl that started out so fragile being able to down some waffles. 

Q: A little-known nutrition tip you can pass along to your audience?

A: Your stomach should be asking for food every 4 hours of the day. If not, it could be a sign that your body has learned it will not be nourished regularly, so it offsets this by burning fewer calories in preparation for those periods without fuel. Hence why snacking is so great! Small portions of fuel to keep your metabolism awake and active. 

Q: What's important to know about sprouted nut snacks?

A: Just because foods have certain nutrients, vitamins, and minerals does not mean our bodies digest them! For example, while spinach is high in calcium, your body simply cannot absorb it from raw spinach. The high iron content of spinach directly competes with calcium absorption. This demonstrates the importance of bioavailability -- my personal favorite benefit of sprouting. The sprouting process unlocks essential nutrients and allows our bodies to actually digest them!