Barbara Mendez is an integrative nutritionist and registered pharmacist who specializes in functional nutrition, emotional eating habits, and the science of how food, medicine, and supplements affect happiness and well-being.
Barbara began her career as a registered pharmacist, working in respected alternative pharmacies in Manhattan (she was one of the first chemists in the city to work with compounded Bio-Identical hormone replacement therapy). In these posts, she not only recognized obvious differences in how traditional and holistic practitioners treated health concerns, but also how patients responded to the protocols. Barbara was amazed by the extent to which the former faced more weight fluctuations, health issues, mood swings, and had little to no understanding of why their health repeatedly failed them—much less how to participate in feeling better—while their holistic counterparts made informed choices about diet, supplements, and prescriptions. This second group also recovered faster from sickness and had fewer ailments as time went on.
This prompted Barbara to go back to school, and after earning a Master’s Degree in Nutritional Science, was named Director of Nutrition for the Fratellone Group for Integrative Cardiology and Medicine. Here, she counseled patients on proper diet and supplement use for the management, treatment, and prevention of heart disease, plus many other health concerns including cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes, and immune dysfunction. This set her on a path of medical nutrition that, with her pharmaceutical background, offered a unique perspective on clients’ needs.
Barbara opened her own full-time nutrition practice in 2004 where she has guided hundreds of people to their health goals using a non-judgmental and practice based approach. Like in all endeavors, consistent practice leads to success.
As either an expert or writer, Barbara has contributed to Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Inc., Livestrong.com, WebMD, HuffingtonPost.com, KrisCarr.com, and Passport Magazine among others. She pens a popular column called “Health = Wealth” for Inc.com and writes about using healing foods to find happiness for InStyle.com and HuffingtonPost.com. She speaks at workshops, retreats, and corporate wellness programs at healthcare centers, yoga studios, corporate events, law offices, fundraisers, trade schools, universities, and conferences. Recently, she lectured at Open Center’s “Five Weeks to Better Health” workshop in Manhattan and participated in a Field to Plate workshop for food, health, and nutrition professionals. She hosted a breakout session at Inc. magazine’s 500/5000 Conference in 2013.
Barbara currently travels extensively and maintains her nutritional practice via one-on-one nutritional consultations via Skype, and in person when in New York City.