The Nutrition Spot podcast disproves several fitness beliefs to help listeners reach their goals. Hosts Shayna Simonne Huang and Nicky Bennett are dietitians and nutritionists at NS Nutrition. They specialize in the "Food Freedom" approach and the "Empowered Eating Method."
The cohosts have struggled with weight, body image, diets, and feeling stuck. Their innovative solutions don't involve rules, willpower, restriction, or overthinking. The podcast reveals how to escape diet culture. A holistic approach yields emotional wellness, mindful nourishment, and sustainable lifestyles. Those who think they failed at fitness will discover biological explanations. They'll learn how to get fit without guilt or confusion.
Episode one of The Nutrition Spot reveals why calorie restriction doesn't work forever. Nicky and Shayna concede that cutting calories works at first. Most dieters eat an eventual "cheat meal" and can't stop, or they quit the diet. People often feel guilty about this, but it isn't their fault.
The podcast explains the body's response to low-calorie diets. The brain starts overproducing the hunger hormone ghrelin to survive. It decreases leptin, the fullness hormone. The brain needs glucose from carbohydrates to survive. Calorie restriction prompts the brain to release neuropeptide Y, which causes carbohydrate cravings. Abandoning low-calorie diets isn't from lack of willpower. It's biological survival. The hosts explain how to eat instead.
The show explores whether sugar addiction is real. The hosts differentiate between feeling addicted and having an addiction. Some diets suggest that when people eat sugar, the body stores it as fat. Nicky and Shayna reveal that all carbohydrates convert into glucose. That includes fruits and veggies. Every component of the body needs glucose, no matter what food it comes from. The reality is that excess food gets stored as fat, whether it's fat, protein, or carbohydrates.
Nicky and Shayna address a common health deterrent-thinking in "all or nothing" terms. If a person eats healthy and then has a cheeseburger one night, they might stop eating healthy. The hosts explain "the gray zone." Like each of their tips on The Nutrition Spot podcast, it's an insightful way to make an immediate change.
Episodes