I have worked as a registered dietitian for 12 years. The one aspect of my profession I have always enjoyed is teaching. I love that I am able to have a positive influence on others by educating them about nutrition. This is also the most challenging aspect of my profession, since change is difficult for most people. Difficult but never impossible.
When I started working with the bariatric population, it amazed me to find out how many surgeons did not offer any nutrition follow-up post-op. I was also amazed at the enormous amount of information on bariatric nutrition that was on the web that was very confusing or contradicting. So the idea came to me to build a web site where patients could go for information.
The idea for the store aspect of the web site came from many patients telling me of their frustration in not being able to find everything they needed in one place. Patients voiced even more frustration in going to a vitamin store and being helped by sales people with very little knowledge of vitamins/ minerals.
My goal is to find products that can be implemented into the bariatric diet. Products that can be used in conjunction with real food and not in place of it.
You wil not find for sale in this web site any products that I call "diet junk food" - candy, candy bars, cake mixes, etc. (loaded with sugar alcohols and other chemicals).
You will also not find what I call "miracle diet products" such as those that aid or enhance weight loss, fat burning, improvement in metabolism, etc. Those products do not work and are a waste of money. Not to mention the lack of scientific proof in the efficacy of their "main" ingredient(s).
Lastly, if I have counseled you in the past and you do not see several vitamin / mineral products that I have recommended in the past, it is not that I no longer think they are excellend products. Unfortunately, there are several excellent vitamin / mineral products that I can not make available via this web site due to the fact that we are solely an internet business. Many vitamin / mineral companies are now selling only to brick and mortar businesses. My hope is that in time we will grow and we will become a brick and mortar business.
BariatricSupermarket.com is unique, in that, it is a bariatric website owned by a registered dietitian with extensive experience in bariatric nutrition. The website was built on the assumption that knowledge acquirement and application of nutrition information after bariatric surgery, should not be a do-it-yourself prospect.
The American Dietetic Association currently does not recognize a standard bariatric diet protocol. This accounts for the disparity in diet protocols for different bariatric programs. Bariatric dietary protocols are usually developed by a registered dietitian in conjunction with the bariatric program coordinator and surgeon. The protocol is usually reflective of their "school of thought".
BariatricSupermarket.com intends to serve the bariatric community as a trusted resource for current bariatric nutrition information, while offering high quality nutrition products that meet these recommendations. Recommendations will be based on a thorough review of the most
current available scientific evidence. Given the education and training in diet, nutrition and human metabolism; a registered dietitian is uniquely positioned to meet these needs.
BariatricSupermarket.com, being owned by a registered dietitian, provides factual information regarding the availability of dietary supplements for purchase and does not advertise in a false or misleading manner (based on Principles 13 and 14 of the Code of Ethics). All dietary recommendations are made in respect to the unique nutritional needs of individuals post-bariatric surgery (based on Principle 8 of the Code of Ethics).
