Karen Greer - Dietitian's Direction

Got nutrition questions? We've got answers!

Whether you’re curious about diet tips, need personalized nutrition advice or want to make healthier choices, our registered dietitians are here to help. This is a no fee & no-obligation service, simple schedule an appointment and one of our team members will contact you!

For more information visit the link in our bio.

Managing PCOS with Diet & Nutrition Join registered dietitian Aislinn McCourt to find out how to optimise your diet and lifestyle to manage PCOS symptoms.

Healthy Easter Treats For All The Family - Spectrum Nutrition Check out our fun and festive Easter treats below! Be sure to try out these kid-friendly recipes this Easter weekend for some delicious fun!

Managing Cholesterol & Heart Health Join registered dietitian and heart health diet expert Hollie Corrigan to learn how to optimise your nutrition for heart health.

Endometriosis and Nutrition - Spectrum Nutrition March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, and our Registered Dietitian Niamh Kelly shares her expert advice on how to optimise your nutrition to help manage and reduce the symptoms of endometriosis.

Optimising Nutrition On A Plant-Based Diet Join registered dietitian and plant-based diet expert Maria Kennedy to learn how to optimise your nutrition when eating plant-based.

At Spectrum Health, our Virtual Clinic provides effective Physiotherapy and Nutrition and Dietetics services that you can access from the comfort of your own home, wherever you are nationwide.

Our Virtual Clinic allows for easy booking and scheduling, and is clinically effective and suitable for the treatment of most issues. Plus, it is a more cost-effective option, it saves you time on the commute, and it allows you to slot your appointment into your week seamlessly, at a time that suits you!

Book an appointment at our Virtual Clinic today by visiting our website or getting in touch with our team:

💻 www.spectrumhealth.ie/digital-services
📧 [email protected]
📞 01 611 1740

* COMPETITION CLOSED *

🌟 Competition Time 🌟

To mark the new year, we are giving away one Spectrum Sustain Weight Loss Programme - our 6 session sustainable weight loss programme worth €330, which is delivered digitally over 12 weeks by our specialist dietitians.

👉🏻 Through this specialised nutrition programme, your dietitian will provide you with a tailored plan, and will guide, motivate and empower you to achieve your weight loss goals sustainably, helping you to break bad habits, develop a positive relationship with food, and gain the knowledge and skills to optimise your nutrition and make healthy food choices long-term.

🎉 Kick off the new year by prioritising your health and starting your sustainable weight loss journey, with the help and support of our experienced CORU registered dietitians and their weight management expertise.

👉🏻 To be in with the chance of winning this excellent prize, simply:

- Follow our page
- Like this post
- Tag a friend in the comments
- Share this post to your feed

Competition closes on Friday 12th January.

To find out more about our Spectrum Sustain Programme and our other nutrition services, visit our website our get in touch with our team:

💻 www.spectrumnutrition.ie/spectrum-sustain
📧 [email protected]
📞 01 611 1740

5 Essential Nutrients For Pregnancy - Spectrum Nutrition A healthy and balanced diet is important at all stages of life, but what specific nutrients should you pay special attention to during pregnancy? Check out the 5 essential nutrients for pregnancy in this blog by Registered Dietitian Michaela Carrick.

Please spread the word … 🎉. Hopefully this webinar will raise awareness around the importance of good nutrition during menopause and also help dispel some myths too.

Please feel free to send any questions my way in advance🤗

📢 Exciting news!

Spectrum Health Dietitian Karen Greer will be hosting our upcoming nutrition webinar, Let’s Talk About Menopause and Nutrition, on Tuesday 28th November, at 6pm to 7pm.

👉🏻 This one-hour online webinar will empower you to gain a better understanding of the role diet and nutrition play in supporting the journey through peri menopause, menopause and post menopause, and will cover:

- The changes to your nutritional requirements during menopause
- Understanding the role of your food choices and the positive impact they can have on menopause symptoms
- Long-term changes you can make to safe guard and protect your health post menopause

Join us to get expert advice from an experienced and CORU and INDI registered dietitian, and learn about how you can optimise your nutrition to support your menopause journey. Karen will also answer any questions you may have in relation to nutrition for menopause.

Book now via the link below to secure your spot, or get in touch to find out more:

💻 https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/lets-talk-about-menopause-and-nutrition-tickets-751675460537?aff=oddtdtcreator
📧 [email protected]
📞 01 611 1740

Key Nutrients For A Vegan Diet - Spectrum Nutrition Following a vegan diet can be a great option for some people, if followed in a nutritionally balanced way. Learn about the key nutrients for vegans below to ensure you are optimising your nutrition when following a plant-based diet.

5 Tips for Heart Health in Menopause - Spectrum Nutrition Check out our top 5 tips for menopause and heart health during menopause, from our registered Spectrum Nutrition dietitian, Hollie Corrigan.

5 Tips For Bone Health During Menopause - Spectrum Nutrition Bone health and density naturally begins to deteriorate during menopause, but with the help of these 5 tips you can keep your bones as strong and healthy as possible.

Weight Management During Menopause - Spectrum Nutrition Many women report that they find it difficult to manage their weight during menopause, and menopause weight gain is very common. During menopause, muscle mass reduces and body fat redistributes.

Health Granola Recipe - Spectrum Nutrition Follow our super simple healthy granola recipe for a great way to start your morning. High in protein, fibre, slow release energy and healthy fats, our health granola gives you everything you need to fuel your body.

Coconut oil is often promoted amid claims that it can reduce the risk of heart disease, increase satiety and help weight loss. But what is the evidence to back up these claims?

Like all oils, coconut oil is a fat. Fats can be divided into two main groups depending on the type of fatty acids found in them: saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Studies have consistently shown that diets rich in saturated fat (mainly found in butter, cream, coconut oil, the visible fat on meat - in fact, coconut oil contains more saturated fat than butter!) are linked to an increased risk of heart disease as it increases low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol in the blood.

On the other hand, unsaturated fat (mainly found in sunflower oil, olive oil, rapeseed oil, avocados, nuts and seeds, oily fish) has been shown to have heart protective effects by reversing the damage caused by saturated fats.

Currently there is little good quality evidence to back up claims made about coconut oil. Most studies to date have been short term trials and when compared to unsaturated fats such as olive oil, it does not show more beneficial outcomes in terms of health.

The bottom line is that while fat is an essential component in any healthy balanced diet, using those such as olive oil, rapeseed oil and sunflower oil which are higher in unsaturated fat are a better choice for heart health. Coconut oil can be consumed as part of a healthy balanced diet, but like other foods high in saturated fat it should be limited to small amounts.

Some great ideas to prevent food wastage😋 🥕🥒🥦

Ratatouille A recipe for traditional ratatouille, with lots of lovely stewed veg

Super easy pizza!!!🍕A great way to involve the kids so they can choose and add their own toppings🥗. Also great for mini hands too by cutting the pizza into finger food lengths. It’s def a hit in this house😍

Easy low fat houmous😍(or hummus!).... The perfect healthy snack - packed with protein, healthy fats and fibre💪🏻

X1 400g tin chickpeas (drain roughly 1/2 the liquid)
1/2 lemon (squeezed)🍋
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic (chopped)
Pinch of salt and pepper

In a blender simply add your ingredients and blitz until it’s a smooth consistency😋😍

Optional extras - have you tried adding 1tsp curry powder or 1tsp cumin or 1 roasted red pepper or you could even try adding 1/2 small beetroot😋

Vitamin D and COVID-19🦠....Have you come across the latest research from TU Dublin and Trinity that suggests that supplementation of vitamin D could potentially enhance resistance to respiratory infections such as COVID-19 and limit the severity for those who do get it?☀️ It has been endorsed by the INDI (Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute).
https://tudublin.ie/media/website/news/2020/main-news/Healthcare-Professionals-Summary-Optimisation-of-Vitamin-D-for-enhanced-Immunoprotection-against-COVID19.pdf

The authors have recommended the immediate vitamin D supplementation of all hospital inpatients, nursing home residents and older adults with a daily supplement containing at least 20ug for the next 3-6months.(short term basis). They also recommend that adults with an underlying condition and frontline care staff should also supplement at this time with a view to extend the recommendation to all adults...... 💊

Over the counter Vitamin D supplements are suitable including supermarket own brands containing a minimum of 20ug. Remember it’s a short term measure during this crisis.

Food sources of Vit D include oily fish such as salmon🐟 and sardines, eggs, fortified breakfast cereals and spreads. Remember the skin also makes vitamin D from the sun so that daily exercise is important☀️

This is not a cure for COVID 19 and obviously it’s remains vital to maintain our current practice of social distancing and correct hand hygiene💦🚿🤲🏻

tudublin.ie

Raspberry and Coconut squares 🥥😋....if you fancy a little sweet treat then these are perfect for everyone.....🏡☕️😍

Recipe (8-10 squares)
200g plain flour (sieved)
1tsp of baking powder
1tsp of bicarbonate soda
30g desiccated coconut
2tsp of vanilla essence
100g sugar (optional as sweet enough without)
1 egg
100ml olive or vegetable oil
100ml milk
150g raspberries (Fresh or frozen)

1. Preheat oven to 200degrees
2. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and coconut in a large bowl
3. Mix the egg, oil, milk and vanilla essence together in a separate bowl
4. Combine the mixtures together gently and finally add in the raspberries
5. Divide the mixture equally into a muffin tray or cupcake cases
6. Cook for 25minutes and sprinkle with some coconut on top...perfect for that afternoon ☕️

Simple tomato 🍅 sauce.... This sauce almost feels too easy to make to share🤭but I love it😋!!!..... Amidst the current situation, I think most people have stocked up on some pasta and tinned tomatoes!!!🙄🍅🏠I therefore thought I would share my super easy low salt tomato sauce which goes with absolutely everything 😋🍗 🐠 🍝 it’s zesty, super quick and a great way to get some extra veggies in for all the family🌶😋
Ingredients
1 carton of passata or tinned tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper (could use carrot if you prefer)
1/2 lemon
Pinch of pepper

Chop the onion, garlic and pepper.
Add 1/2 tsp of oil to saucepan and add the chopped veg. Sauté for 3mins.
Add the tomatoes, juice of 1/2 lemon and pinch of pepper. Heat for further 5mins. Blend with blender!!! Done✅

Works great in chicken, fish, pasta dishes and also served cold as a dressing for salads 🥗

COVID-19 / Coronavirus - Advice for the General Public Frequently Asked Questions about nutrition and food in relation to COVID-19 / coronavirus from the BDA. We will keep this page updated as the situation develops.

In light of the current Covid-19 situation and the government’s plea to reduce any non essential community contact I’ve decided to postpone the weaning workshop scheduled for the 30th March until a later date😔. I’ve tried to contact everyone who has already registered. In the meantime for any mums and dads about to embark on their weaning journey the HSE website has some good info to get you started
https://www2.hse.ie/wellbeing/child-health/weaning/weaning-starting-your-baby-on-solid-foods.html
Sincere apologies for any inconvenience. Karen

Banana Bread 🍌 🍞(oaty style).....I absolutely love banana bread and this version is a really simple healthy option that all ages will love😋. Get the kids involved, baking is a great activity to keep them occupied💪🏻
Recipe.....
300g porridge oats
4 ripe banana’s🍌 (fork mashed)
500g vanilla yogurt
1 egg(beaten)
1 tsp of baking powder
1tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 180degrees
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl
Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper and add the mixture
Bake for 45mins
Allow to cool before slicing....so simple!👌🏻