Sarah Dimitratos

Sarah Dimitratos is a Registered Dietitian, and a Nutritional Biology doctoral student at the University of California, Davis. After earning her BS in Clinical Nutrition/Psychology minor, she lived in NYC to pursue the dietetic internship where she worked with an incredibly diverse group of people; For example, she completed clinical rotations at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, taught nutrition to children as a City Harvest Nutritionist in Bedford Stuyvesant, learned culinary techniques at Colgate HQ in Manhattan, learned business-oriented nutrition at Weil, Gotshal and Manges Law Firm, and even worked on the weekends at Equinox under the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge. While her audiences, patients, and clients came from varying walks of life, starkly different socioeconomic status, all with unique stories to tell with seemingly little to nothing in common, Sarah noticed a perplexing trend that ultimately drove her current career trajectory. Oftentimes lack of nutrition knowledge is not our biggest barrier to healthy eating success; Rather, what we know to be ‘healthy food choices,’ and our food choices in reality, are not always the same! In fact, this disconnect becomes even more apparent under stress (Think of it this way: While your rational brain might say an apple is your best choice, a a stressful day at the office makes chocolate cake and extra wine nearly irresistible!) Sarah’s Nutritional Biology PhD studies take place in a Stress Biology lab, where she examines how the effects of sugar on metabolism, influence brain pathways that orchestrate cognitive, neuroendocrine, and behavioral responses to stress. Rather than pursue a traditional Dietetics career, she believes lasting behavior change requires investigating the mechanistic drivers of eating behavior. Sarah’s mission is make her science relevant to everyday life. You can find her work on various social media platforms, such as her personal website www.realfooddhism.com, Instagram account @realfooddhism, soon on the NIH-BEST Consortium blog, and here on the American Society for Nutrition platform. She is also the Nutrition Correspondent for Saladeveryday.com, and previously blogged for Spoon University as the UCD chapter’s Editorial Manager. Sarah is creating a dynamic career as a dual academic and science communication expert. When she is not teaching her undergrads at UC Davis, or researching in the lab, you can find her cooking up a storm, listening to podcasts, and regularly attending her favorite gyms.