Diet & Nutrition Products
Common Questions & Answers
Vitamin and mineral supplements, protein powders, probiotics, and meal replacements are common nutrition products. Many brands, product types, and retailers exist, so research each product thoroughly to ensure maximum benefit and minimum harm. Read product labels carefully.
Vitamin and mineral supplements provide essential nutrients that may be lacking in a person’s diet. However, the best way to get nutrients is from food. Supplements may help if you don’t eat certain foods, have an absorption disorder, or are pregnant.
Protein powders can support muscle growth and repair, hormone and enzyme production, and weight loss. However, you may not need protein powders if you eat a sufficient amount of meat, fish, eggs, and dairy.
Meal replacement shakes can aid short-term weight management by swapping out full meals for premade, convenient, lower-calorie shakes. While they can be handy and save time, they may lack some of the nutrients you’d find in a healthy, whole-food diet.
Consider your health needs, budget, and overall lifestyle, and check that the products are tested and verified by a third-party lab. Read the label to ensure that your chosen product gives you enough nutrients without piling on additives or added sugars.

Julie Cunningham, MPH, RDN, LDN, CDCES
Medical Reviewer
Julie Cunningham has been a registered dietitian for more than 25 years. She is a certified diabetes care and education specialist (CDCES) and an international board-certified lactation consultant. She has served as the president of the Foothills Chapter of the North Carolina Dietetics Association (NCDA) and has been a member of the executive board of the NCDA.
Ms. Cunningham received a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. She subsequently completed a master's degree in public health nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ms. Cunningham has worked in women's and children's health, cardiology, and diabetes. She is the author of 30 Days to Tame Type 2 Diabetes, and she has also written for Abbott Nutrition News, Edgepark Medical Health Insights, diaTribe, Babylist, and others.
A resident of beautiful western North Carolina, Cunningham is an avid reader who enjoys yoga, travel, and all things chocolate.

Reyna Franco, RDN
Medical Reviewer
Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.
In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.
Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.
She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.

Kayli Anderson, RDN
Medical Reviewer
Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.
Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.
Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.
She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.
- Dietary Supplements Don’t Replace a Healthy Diet. Oklahoma State University.
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