Cindy Hartman

Dietician

My journey in nutrition began when I was in college the first time around, studying to be a nurse; it was there that I had my first nutrition course. A light bulb went off and I asked myself why we were using only surgery and pharmaceuticals to treat chronic disease and obesity and not emphasizing nutrition to prevent those things. I soon left Nursing school. 

In the years between Nursing and Nutrition school, I managed two natural foods stores and owned a vegetarian catering company for 20 years, catering for workshop and retreat participants from all over the world. That work taught me a lot about how people ate, how to accommodate dietary restrictions, and how to make nutritious food that was actually tasty. 

Nutrition was obviously a passion of mine, but I wasn’t interested in being part of the Western medical model of treatment. However, 30 years after my ‘aha’ moment, Medicare finally approved reimbursement for dietitians who worked with patients with diabetes. Before that, only kidney disease (which happens when diabetes is uncontrolled) was covered. Within a few months, I was enrolled in the Dietetics program at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa.

Early in my career, I worked at the San Antonio Food Bank as a Nutrition Education Coordinator. In that capacity, I did food demos, lots of public speaking, and recipe development for the USDA using donated food and commodities. I moved to my hometown to help my aging mother and worked in a small, rural hospital, honing my clinical skills. I continued to be an educator there, developing nutrition classes for the local community and working one-on-one with hospital patients, as well as out-patients, many of whom had diabetes and heart disease.  

During my years as a clinician (both in-hospital, memory, and long term care), I also taught Culinary Nutrition to students enrolled in the St Louis Community College Culinary Arts program, as well as Quantity Foods at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. I am an Ornish-certified Cardiac dietitian, as well as being a Certified LEAP Specialist, specializing in treating food hypersensitivities that cause inflammation. 

Of particular interest to me, is the connection between the health of our gut and how it influences not only our physical body, but also our mental and emotional states, including the risk and treatment of addiction. I am grateful for the opportunity to utilize my diverse skills to support our clients on their path to wellness.