Karen Lindsay, RD

My life’s mission is to support women’s health across the reproductive lifespan. I focus my practice on addressing hormonal imbalances, infertility, pre-conception health optimization, pregnancy, postpartum, autoimmune disorders, and gastrointestinal concerns. With a unique skillset and over 15 years years of interdisciplinary training, my approach with clients varies according to individual needs. This may include medical nutrition therapy, health coaching, mindfulness, and fostering culinary skills to build healthy nutrition behaviors that serve individuals and their families alike. 

I completed my undergraduate training in Human Nutrition and Dietetics in my home country of Ireland. I was always fascinated about the critical role of nutrition during pregnancy and the impact it can exert on lifelong health outcomes for both mother and child. That curiosity led me to pursue a PhD in maternal nutrition and metabolism from University College Dublin. During my graduate training, I practiced part-time in Ireland’s largest maternity hospital, providing nutritional counseling and group education for the prevention and treatment of gestational diabetes. While I loved working in this space, an opportunity arose that brought me to sunny Southern California to continue academic research in the field of nutrition during pregnancy. I completed a 5-year postdoc at University of California, Irvine (UCI) where I conducted research and published numerous papers on the effects of the interplay of nutrition and stress during pregnancy. But my feet were itching to return to clinical practice and to apply my overlapping interests and expertise in nutrition, mindfulness, and holistic wellness to support women’s health. 

I became faculty at UCI in 2020 and also joined UCI’s Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute where I returned to clinical practice as an RD. Emerging myself in an interdisciplinary setting with top-class integrative health providers has afforded me the opportunity to further develop my skillsets and apply a whole-person care lens to my practice. I co-founded the Pre-pregnancy Whole Person Care program in 2024 at the Samueli Institute, which provides integrative care services to couples planning a pregnancy, with a focus on applying food as medicine principles alongside mindful self-compassion and stress management. Working with couples on their pre-pregnancy journeys has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my career to date!

I have completed formal training in Mindful Eating and Health and Wellness Coaching and have served as a culinary medicine educator to UCI medical students for the past 5 years. This complementary skillset combined with my personal experience with digestive and gynecological issues allows me to support my clients through a compassionate lens. I am here to support women in making lasting behavior change, understanding how to nourish their bodies from the inside out, and establishing a healthy relationship with food that can be passed on across generations. I can’t wait to work with you!