Larson Dietetics

09/13/2025

Just wanted to elaborate about this story I posted earlier:

This screenshot shows my results from my Oura ring after a run on Thursday. I’m trying to keep my heart rate between 150-155 throughout the run. Ideally, I’d be around 152, so I may keep my speed under 5.6 on Tuesday to adjust a little and see if that keeps my HR a little lower next time. Now for some explanation…

I’ve been running longer distances at steady speeds for the past couple of months in an effort to lower my body fat. There’s something called an anaerobic threshold, which is the point during exercise when the body's primary energy system shifts from aerobic (with oxygen) to anaerobic (without oxygen) metabolism. It's the highest intensity you can sustain for an extended period without a significant buildup of lactate in your blood. This threshold is a key indicator of endurance performance and not crossing it while running for an extended period of time (beyond 45 minutes for most) can lead to maximizing fat burning efforts. However, it ultimately raises my metabolism for the rest of the day - so I also have to be aware and not skimp on my protein or calorie intake.

By doing this, my hope is to lose fat and retain (on off days I lift) and potentially build muscle. Which actually requires being at a caloric surplus. Thus far, I’ve been able to lose weight by eating more calories and protein while running and lifting on offsetting days.

I’m hopeful that the weight loss has been primarily fat and will confirm that next month when I rescan my body and will post both composition analyses with comparative results/discussion.

Nothing like experimenting on oneself! I watched a show called The Knick about ten years ago that is my inspiration for doing so.

09/04/2025

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has been creating these handy “Nutrition Fact Check” sheets that read like brochures and make the latest evidence based research on nutrition facts and info easier to read & user friendly.
They also encourage members (like myself) to share them to help educate the public on what we base our dietary and nutrition recommendations upon.
I’m posting this first on one seed oils as I have been getting a lot of inquiries about them lately from patients and feel there is a lot of misinformation or misinterpretation of information that’s out there.
My main concern with seed oils is the high heat/temperatures from which they can be extracted. Buying “cold-pressed” ensures that the healthy fats (both omega-3’s & 6’s) are preserved and their chemical composition isn’t compromised. While this leads to shorter shelf life and lower smoke points, it does preserve their benefits. Simply cook things at a lower temperature and use those healthy fats (cook more)!
Attached is the seed oils check sheet - I’ll post about the others they sent this week regarding Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) and Food Additives in the coming days

08/22/2025

🚨*Plant-based protein recommended in new dietary guidelines*
For the first time, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends prioritizing plant-based protein over animal sources, including traditionally healthful options like chicken and fish. Beans, peas and lentils are now suggested as top protein choices, while red meat is placed at the bottom of the list. Based on current research, most people should aim to get about a third of their protein from plants, and older adults and those at high risk of heart disease should aim for closer to 50%
I’ve been trying to do this myself lately. My lovely wife made tempeh meatballs (delicious) with lentil marinara and chickpea pasta for a spin on spaghetti and meatballs

to discuss some more ideas!

08/20/2025

07/22/2025

Going to be relaunching larsondietetics.com in the coming months- hoping to drive more traffic and will be offering some discounts on

*Its important to fuel properly whilst working on your website

07/21/2025

Experimenting on Myself:

A couple years ago I began using an InBody bio impedance scale to measure and track my weight, skeletal muscle mass, and percentage of body fat.
I only used it about every 8 months (suggested 3-6, I just got laxed between the first two measurements and wanted to stay consistent) and have 4 readings that have proven to be quite interesting in what they’ve revealed:
• You’ll notice all three metrics are nearly exactly the same after 2 years and 3 months
• I was at my healthiest in regards to muscle mass and percentage of body fat at my heaviest weight

This is because I let the number on the scale (weight) influence my direction. Instead, I determined I needed to get closer to a 25 BMI (an antiquated measure) in order to be healthier. During that time, my muscle mass decreased (somewhat significantly) and my body fat increased. Throughout this time I was also exercising 4x/week at a fasted state and fasting for 6 hours post workout.
Moving forward I’m going to listen to all of the peer reviewed data (that I’ve known and stubbornly been ignoring - while encouraging others to go the scientifically backed route and seeing success with my clients ), continue working out 4x/week, run for longer distances at about 45-65% of my V02 Max, and dedicate more time to lifting 2x/week.
I’ll also begin having a whey protein shake after workouts (within an hour) and casein shakes at night as casein is more slowly absorbed and can help with recovery at night - to allow me to achieve more calories from protein, instead of my calorie deficit while keeping protein high strategy.

Stay tuned for results to be published in October!

07/15/2025

Had a great class Saturday, Coffee 101, discussing the origins, current growing practices, species, and future of coffee!
Things I learned:
Two types of coffee beans:
Robusta (ew) & Arabica (yum)
Three basic processes in production/separation of fruit from bean:
Washed (most common; fermentation removes cherry skin; light bodied)
Honey (briefly washed basically; some skin stays (turns bean to a rich honey color; brighter, fruitier, more acidic profile)
Natural (no fermentation; drying takes much longer; extremely fruit forward/sweet profile)
There’s a belt (somewhat follows (slightly south of) equator where coffee grows best. Best coffee usually grows between 1500-2000m about sea level.
Learned about varietals - think I’ll be seeking out Geishas, Bourbons, & Typicas

We also did a cupping (video) where we got to be pretentious and sip & slurp freshly ground and poured coffees (process best described as cowboy coffee).

Very appreciative of Vanessa from Onyx’s time and patience with us/me! Already ordered some honey bourbons and typicas to play with that I’ll be roasting this weekend!

06/17/2025

Swing and a miss last night! They can’t all be winners I suppose. The waitstaff was friendly and it had a great view of the Potomac but I’ve had better sushi in Tulsa, I’m sorry to report.

I did have a great walk around the National Harbor and saw a cool Zumba class taking place right on the waterfront.

06/16/2025

I’m in Washington D.C. for an ASMBS Annual Conference and Expo and plan to check out all the great restaurants around the National Harbor area!

Last night’s stop - Succotash. Succotash was opened by chef Edward Lee who has been climbing up the ladder of culinary acclaim as of late. He was featured on the Netflix series Culinary Class Wars and has a focus on Southern cuisine with an Asian twist.

I also want to mention my waiter, Eric, who took the time to explain the history of the restaurant was very helpful in recommendations and gave me a free appeteaser and dessert to show appreciation for me coming in. Larson Dietetics must be really taking off, you guys!

Anyway - here’s some pics of the menu, the fried cauliflower, chicken and waffles, collard greens with turkey and kimchi, and succotash (had to) that I ordered from it. Also pictured are the complementary cornbread and pimento (topped with honey) and the desserts consisting of a mini pecan pie, raspberry cake ball and their house whipped cream.

BEST MEAL I’ve had in a long while = A+ experience (very fair price too, I might add)

05/19/2025

Behold! Our drawer of beta carotene.

Beta-carotene is a type of nutrient known as a carotenoid, which means it’s a natural food coloring. Foods high in beta-carotene and other carotenoids tend to have deep, rich colors.

But beta-carotene does much more than make your plate orange.

Beta-carotene is a special kind of carotenoid known as a provitamin A carotenoid. That means it’s essentially a precursor to vitamin A.

Some foods — like meat, fish and dairy products — contain a source of vitamin A called pre-formed vitamin A. But provitamin A carotenoids like beta-carotene come from a wide range of plant foods.
So, beta-carotene gives your body all the benefits of vitamin A, plus some additional body-boosting effects.

Antioxidants like beta-carotene help fight off damage to your body at the cellular level. That’s because beta-carotene acts as an antioxidant — meaning it helps keep free radicals (unstable molecules) from building up in your body and causing oxidative stress. And that’s really important because oxidative stress is linked to a number of chronic diseases, like cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and more.

Some nutrient-rich foods can help to lower inflammation throughout your body. And beta-carotene is one of the nutrients that provides an anti-inflammatory benefit.

Inflammation in your body is much like the swelling you get after an injury. Except on the inside. Like oxidative stress, chronic inflammation contributes to a host of chronic conditions.

A healthy diet rich in nutrients like beta-carotene can help keep your inflammatory response in check.

Truth be told, beta-carotene isn’t just in orange foods, it’s also found in leafy greens, broccoli, pea pods, and a few others.

Here’s to your eye health and so much more!

05/15/2025

Calorie counter experiment:

I have some clients that have recommended an app called “Eato” recently, which uses AI to identify what you’re eating via your phone’s camera - making it much simpler than looking things up manually from the app’s search engine and adding foods individually.

Personally, I’ve used an app called MyFitnessPal to do this exact thing for years. Before the AI I used MFP to look up foods manually, and since I’m (like most of us) a creature of habit, I didn’t think it was that bad - though I will admit using the AI feature is much quicker.

For this meal, my employer’s cafe served fettuccini Alfredo, chicken, spinach, carrots, and breadsticks. Trying to make conscientious decisions throughout the week, I asked them to hold the fettuccini Alfredo and breadsticks, grabbed some grapes and ended up with a meal that I encourage for weight loss or diabetes management - high protein, half your plate with nonstarchy vegetables, and choose fruit for your carb more often than not.

Let’s compare:
MFP approximated my chicken to be 6oz, coming in at 37.8g protein - which I believe to be more accurate than Eato’s rounded approximation of 40g. Both are close to my guesstimate before scanning.

Eato was much more accurate in its accuracy of grapes, however. As that is a one cup container and does not contain a cup and a half of grapes, as MFP reports.

Both scanned the veggies correctly, one cup of spinach and one cup of carrots - the only discrepancies were in the total carbs/fiber they provided, which were minimal and insignificant.

Overall, MFP reports a meal containing 472kcal whereas Eato reports 454 (again, insignificant). Simply based on preference and familiarity , I give MFP the nod. I will say, however, this is because Eato is constantly rounding foods up (like the chicken) when I scan it and while that isn’t necessarily very meaningful for a meal - it will add up at the end of the day and definitely by the end of the week. Eato also recommends way too many calories for someone trying to maintain body weight, which MFP can be guilty of too, but not to the degree of Eato.
By a nose, I’ll stick with MFP

04/28/2025

This weekend’s menu had some nutritious benefits:
Philtattas for breakfast: couple eggs, few egg whites, homegrown spinach, peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, and topped with feta. Hard to beat.
Pork tenderloin (lean) with a mushroom cream sauce, broccoli and sweet potato
Plus fresh berries, mixed nuts and yogurt, some homemade banana bread and much more!
All logged, ensuring adequate protein, balance & variety 😊
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