Health and Wellness Keynotes

Take the Stress out of Eating Healthy (or, How to Marie Kondo your Diet)

When it comes to information about food and nutrition, most of us are drinking from a fire hose. The deluge of do’s, don’ts, dangers, and diet hacks is so overwhelming that eating healthy may feel like an unattainable goal. But eating healthy is simpler (and more enjoyable) than your social media feed would have you believe. Monica brings her signature combination of common sense, hard science, and humor to reveal what is worth focusing on and what you can stop worrying about. She’ll help you “KonMari” your diet, clearing away the clutter of outdated or misguided beliefs and superstitions and revealing the life changing magic of stress-free healthy eating.

Nutrition Traps Even Smart People Fall Into

You’re probably pretty savvy about nutrition. You read a lot on the topic, seek advice from reliable sources, stay on top of the latest developments, and think carefully about your food choices. But there are a few traps that even health-conscious people often fall into. In fact, they may be the most susceptible. Monica reveals the three most common of these nutrition traps. You’ll learn which healthy foods are most likely to be over-consumed, the common mistake people make when shopping at health food stores, and the way in which our brains trick us into thinking our diet is better (or worse) than it actually is.

How to Spot (and Stop) Fake News

Misinformation is not just about influencing elections. It’s also used to attract attention, drive traffic, and sell products. Will drinking celery juice detoxify your organs? Can coconut oil prevent Alzheimer’s disease? Can superfoods supercharge your immune system? Is the food we grow today less nutritious than it used to be? Monica is an expert at sifting the science from the silliness, helping people make sense of sensationalized headlines, spot fake news, and identify reliable sources. Today more than ever before, we need to cultivate the ability to think critically about the information we encounter. In addition to helping you make smarter foods choices, Monica will make you a more savvy consumer of information in general.

Food Wars: Who’s Right About What to Eat

Politics isn’t the only thing that is polarized these days. Nutrition has also become a highly partisan world, with experts divided into starkly opposed camps on the most fundamental questions. Is a hunter-gatherer diet healthiest for humans? Or is a plant-based diet the best way to extend your life (and save the planet)? Should you eat more or less protein? Are whole grains good or bad for you? Monica brings a balanced and nonpartisan perspective to these debates, offering an objective evaluation of the evidence on both sides, exploring the best arguments for and against various points of view, and empowering each person to figure out what’s right for them. Today more than ever before, we need to learn to communicate respectfully and productively, even if we disagree. Monica offers a template for thinking and talking about more than just diet dilemmas.

Corporate Wellness Programming

30 Day Nutrition Upgrade™

The 30 Day Nutrition Upgrade™ is a fun and flexible group challenge that will help you reshape your eating habits and upgrade your nutrition, starting exactly where you are right now. Beginning with a live kick-off event hosted by Monica, the program asks participants to log their nutrition choices by answering 10 easy questions every day for 30 days in the Nutrition GPA™ app. Participants walk away with a better understanding of what their bodies need to thrive and how to integrate healthy choices into “real life” in a comfortable, sustainable way. The Upgrade is fully customizable for schools or organizations looking to incorporate health and wellness into their programming.

Continuing Education for Health Professionals

Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Healthy Habits

It’s not enough to tell people what they should be eating. Even explaining the benefits of a healthy diet—or getting people to commit to making changes—isn’t enough. If we want to close the gap between good intentions and healthy habits, we need to break down the cultural, logistical, and culinary barriers that stand in the way. This session probes the reasons why the willing fail, using data from surveys of consumer attitudes, beliefs, habits, and preferences, along with case studies. We’ll distinguish between cognitive commitment and tactical empowerment; identify common sensory, cultural and logistical impediments to greater compliance. Finally, we’ll consider how we can use these insights to make our communications and counseling more effective with problem solving tools and strategies.

Codifying the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

There is widespread agreement that an anti-inflammatory diet has the potential to reduce disease risk, relieve suffering, and improve health—but little consensus on what an anti-inflammatory diet looks like. Some approaches focus on glycemic impact, others on antioxidant capacity, still others on fatty acid profile—leading to confusion. Does the glycemic impact of sweet potatoes cancel out their antioxidant benefit? Does the saturated fat in beef outweigh the advantageous omega-6:omega-3 ratio? As the creator of the IF Rating(R) system, Reinagel is uniquely qualified to answer these and other common questions and misperceptions. Practitioners and patients alike can benefit from a systematic, integrative, and evidence-based approach to evaluating the inflammatory and anti-inflammatory potential of foods and dietary patterns.

Stronger Bones: Practical Strategies for Lifelong Bone Health

Nutrition and lifestyle habits play an important role in preserving the health of our bones as we get older, which is key to enjoying an active fulfilling life. And it’s never too late (or too early) to take action. No matter what your age or current bone status, learn what you can do to build and maintain stronger bones.

Dr. Oz Show

TODAY Show

Live Presentation

Cooking Demo

Monica’s  “sane and scientific” approach and “foodie-friendly” advice are regularly featured on the TODAY show, Dr. Oz, CBS News, Morning Edition, and in the nation’s leading newspapers, magazines, and websites. She’s a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, Scientific American, Food and Nutrition Magazine, and My Fitness Pal, and is a featured commentator for WYPR-FM and WOSU-FM.

Download Monica’s Media Kit.

“Fabulous feedback! Monica was terrific in her presentations and in her engagement with the group. The logistics all worked perfectly! She is a great speaker and has a wonderful command of her subject matter. All participants really enjoyed getting copies of her books!”

“Monica is a gifted and dynamic presenter. She did a great job tailoring her presentation for our audience, which included a mix of health professionals and non-professionals. Our attendees rated her highly, with 96% scoring her presentation as ‘excellent.’ Comments included ‘best session of the conference,’ ‘best nutrition lecture I ever attended,’ and ‘great enthusiasm.’ We look forward to inviting Monica as a speaker in future conferences.”

Feedback from Idea World: Nutrition & Behavior Change Summit

“Brilliant! Monica delivered a superb presentation which clearly outlined the fundamental principles of healthy nutrition. I think that this approach should be used by all trainers. As she so eloquently expressed… Nutrition is a subject on which many ‘specialists’ can be evangelical and preachy. Monica used an evidence-based, common-sense approach to explain how all of the conflicting information out there.”

“Loved! Great practical, applicable practices & tools you can apply immediately with your clients. Great speaker. Dynamic, clear and engaging!”

“Many of my clients have the end goal of weight loss, in turn meaning nutritional and dietary change. Monica provided simple and easily applicable tools and information for me to bring to my clients that I have not thought of before.”

Praise for the 30 Day Nutrition Upgrade™

“The upgrade has changed my life! I feel more energy and less brain fog, I have lost 3 pounds, decreased my sugar intake (without feeling deprived). The program helps me to make better choices on a more consistent basis. This is amazing.”

“I’m loving the program! Feeling great and so psyched to be making sustainable changes rather than embarking on yet another intense, radical, short-term overhaul that ends up fizzling out.”

“I really enjoyed that, for me, it came down more to what I SHOULD be eating rather than what I shouldn’t eat.”

“[T]his is a lifestyle…not a diet!”