ABOUT ANNA

Hola! Soy Anna, I’m a Mexican-American registered dietitian nutritionist. I graduated with a degree in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Davis, California and now I live in Northern California with my husband Anthony and Yorkie (Rocky).

I love to travel, eat and create recipes!

My passion for helping the Latine community is what lead me to my career in nutrition. Mexican and Latin-American food can be incredibly nutritious once we learn how to balance it. My recipes are made with love to honor my Mexican heritage and to help prevent and control diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

I create plant-based versions of my favorite platillos because the key to health is eating more plants. You don’t have to go fully plant-based to see changes, just begin incorporating more plant-forward meals to your week! Find hundreds of free recipes here on my blog and checkout my Healthy Simple Mexican Recipes Ebook or Diabetes 101 ebook to learn more about nutrition and get exclusive recipes.

SEE ALL OF MY RECIPES

Background

I am a first generation Mexican-American. My parents immigrated to Southern California from Michoacán Mexico in the early 90’s. I was born in Orange County but moved to the Bay Area when I was just 5 years old. At a young age I already knew about heart disease, and diabetes because my grandfather passed away from complications when I was just 10 years old.

When I graduated high school I l knew exactly what I wanted to do; help mi gente through preventative healthcare and nutrition. I decided to pursue a Clinical Nutrition degree at the best university for this specialty; UC Davis.

Education and Career

After graduating from UC Davis in 2016 I completed my dietetic internship to become a licensed registered dietitian through Priority Care Nutrition (PNCDDI) based out of Boston, Ma. My passion has always been to work with the Latine community so I did just that. I applied to many Federally Qualified Health Centers in the bay area and got the opportunity to get extensive experience at Marin Community Clinics and Alliance Medical Center. I was seeing 8-12 patients a day, mainly Spanish-speaking communities with Medi-Cal/Partnership insurances as well as the uninsured.

In 2019 I quickly realized that most of my patients did not think Mexican food was healthy. They were all hesitant to see a dietitian because they thought I was going to take away their favorite foods! I started to realize that I needed to reach more people to educate and show them just got delicious and nutritious authentic Mexican food could be. I also loved showing my patients how to make their meals more plant-based by making small swaps. THAT is when I started documenting my meals, recipes, and sharing them online.

Mi Cultura

I did not niche down to mainly Mexican recipes when I first started. I was excited to explore different dishes so I was sharing smoothie bowls, pastas, pineapple fried rice and everything in between! I still share some recipes that aren’t from my culture but I am now more drawn to my Mexican heritage and family recipes. After starting this blog I wanted to learn more about my culture so I have been asking my mom so many question, I’ve been traveling to Mexico more than ever and I’m learning more about my ancestors’ diet. I was pleasantly surprised to learn than my pre-hispanic ancestors were mainly plant-based.

My main goal is to help the latine communities improve their health by eating more balanced and plant-forward meals. Plant-based diets have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and chronic illness like diabetes and hypertension. I’m taking it back to our roots of beans, corn, squash, mushrooms, and herbs. The flavor is all in the sazón, the salsas, and the herbs. It’s not about stopping meat all-together but about adding as many plant-based meals as possible. I help make that super easy with delicious protein-packed platillos that will remind you of your grandma’s cooking with a healthy twist!

Brand Partnerships and
Collaborations

I’m honored to work with some of the best brands across the country and around the globe! I only work with brands whose values align with mine and products that I truly believe in and use myself.

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