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Nutritionist Christine Bou Sleiman, MS, RDN, CLT specializes in digestive disorders, food sensitivities, weight management, diabetes, and overall wellness.

Nutritionist Christine Bou Sleiman MS, RDN, CLT offers a multimedia program on ditching diets for healthy, sustainable weight loss. Based in Los Angeles

10/23/2026

💚 Healthy Selfie Friday: The Slow Cook Mindset 🍳🎵

Health isn’t just what you eat—it’s how you feel while making it.

Cooking can sometimes feel like one more thing on an already long to-do list. But a small change in mindset can make the experience feel different.

Put on your favorite playlist. Take your time when you can. Enjoy the smells, the sounds, and the simple satisfaction of preparing a meal.

You don’t have to love cooking or make everything from scratch. The idea is simply to find little moments of enjoyment in the routines that are already part of your day.

Sometimes, self-care isn’t adding another thing to your schedule. It’s changing how you experience something you’re already doing. 💚

What’s your favorite way to make cooking—or another everyday task—a little more enjoyable? I’d love to hear!

10/20/2026

🦠 Probiotics: What They Are and What They Actually Do

Have you ever bought a probiotic because it had more strains or a higher CFU count, assuming it must be better?

Here's the catch: probiotics aren't one-size-fits-all.

Different strains can have different effects, and research supporting one strain doesn't automatically apply to another. A higher CFU count doesn't necessarily mean a supplement will work better, either.

A few things worth knowing:

🌱 Choose based on your goal. Look for evidence that the specific strain has been studied for the concern you're trying to address.

🥣 Consider food sources. Yogurt and kefir with live cultures, along with some fermented vegetables, can provide live microorganisms. Not all fermented foods contain live cultures when you eat them.

🔎 Look beyond the supplement. If you're dealing with ongoing bloating, constipation, diarrhea, or other digestive symptoms, it's worth exploring what might be contributing to them rather than assuming a probiotic is the answer.

As a Registered Dietitian and Certified Gastrointestinal Nutritionist, I help clients take a personalized approach to gut health by looking at the bigger picture—including symptoms, diet, lifestyle, health history, and, when appropriate, gut microbiome test results.

These factors can help inform whether a probiotic may be beneficial and which strains or food-based approaches may be worth considering.

Have you ever tried a probiotic? Did you notice a difference? I'd love to hear about your experience!

10/16/2026

☀️ Healthy Selfie Friday!

Today's Healthy Selfie is a cup of coffee and a little morning sunshine. ☕🌞

One simple habit I love is getting natural daylight early in the day. It's an easy way to start the morning with a little fresh air and support my body's internal clock.

Morning light helps regulate our sleep-wake cycle, supports daytime alertness, and helps our bodies time melatonin production for the evening.

You don't need a complicated morning routine to get started. Try taking your coffee outside, enjoying a few minutes on the patio, or getting some daylight during a morning walk.

💚 Your Healthy Selfie challenge: Can you enjoy your morning coffee or tea outdoors this weekend?

Sometimes, the simplest habits are the easiest to build into everyday life!

10/13/2026

🌱 Prebiotics: Are You Feeding Your Gut Bacteria?

You’ve probably heard that fiber is important for gut health. But did you know that certain types of fiber and other compounds in plant foods help nourish the beneficial microbes living in your gut?

These substances are called prebiotics.

Think of prebiotics as fertilizer for your gut garden. Just as fertilizer helps plants grow, prebiotics provide nourishment that helps certain beneficial gut microbes thrive and do their job.

Why does this matter?

When gut microbes ferment certain fibers, they break them down and use them for energy, producing compounds called short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate.

These compounds help support the cells lining your colon and play a role in immune and metabolic health.

🥦 Where can you find prebiotics?

You may already have some of these foods in your kitchen!

🥣 Oats and beans: Provide fermentable fibers that gut microbes can use.

🧅 Onions, garlic and asparagus: Contain inulin and other fermentable carbohydrates.

🍌 Green or slightly underripe bananas: Provide resistant starch, a carbohydrate that resists digestion in the small intestine and can be used by gut microbes.

🥔 Cooked-and-cooled potatoes or rice: Can contain resistant starch, too.

🫐 Berries and other colorful plant foods: Provide polyphenols and other compounds that interact with gut microbes, influencing which microbes thrive and the compounds they produce.

🌿 Remember: Variety matters!

In my recent post, I shared the goal of eating 30 different plant foods per week. Different plants provide different types of fiber and other compounds, which is one reason I encourage variety rather than relying on the same one or two foods.

You don't need to reach 30 plants overnight. Start by adding one new plant food to a meal or snack, or rotating the foods you already enjoy.

A gentle reminder: If you experience bloating, gas or IBS symptoms, increase fermentable foods gradually. Foods such as onions, garlic and beans can cause more gas and bloating in some people because gut bacteria ferment them. These foods can still be nutritious, but the amount you tolerate may vary.

The goal isn't perfection—it's building variety in a way that works for your body.

🌱 Your Healthy Selfie challenge: What's one new plant food you could add to your meals this week?

Small changes, repeated consistently, can make a difference over time.

10/09/2026

🛁 Healthy Selfie Friday: A warm bath + a little time to slow down.

There are seasons of life when I’m really good about taking baths… and seasons when they just don’t happen. 😊

On a good week, I aim for 2–3 baths as part of my evening wind-down routine.

My simple recipe:

• Warm bath
• 3–4 cups of Epsom salt
• At least 20 minutes to soak
• Optional: natural lavender-scented bubble bath
• A candle
• Herbal tea
• And, ideally, no phone 📵

I love the combination of the warm water, Epsom salt, bubbles, candlelight, and a little quiet time. For me, it’s less about the bath itself and more about creating a transition between the busyness of the day and bedtime.

A warm bath is one of my favorite ways to relax and signal to my body that it’s time to start winding down for sleep.

And I’m reminding myself that healthy habits don’t have to happen perfectly—or every night—to be worthwhile.

What’s one thing you do to help yourself slow down and transition into bedtime?

10/07/2026

POV: You’re a dietitian mom and fiber finally becomes trendy. 😂🌱

I thought fibermaxxing was finally going to make my boys excited about all the fiber-rich foods I’ve been encouraging them to eat.

So I sat them down to explain that their favorite parfait + quinoa salad = fibermaxxing… AND they're helping us reach our goal of 30 different plant foods each week.

Their response?

“We’ve never heard of fibermaxxing.”
“What 30 plants?”
“Mom…we've never seen that checklist on the fridge.”

The checklist that's been there for MONTHS. 🤦‍♀️😂

Apparently, being a dietitian doesn't give you any special powers when you're parenting teenagers.

Tell me I'm not the only one whose kids completely ignore the nutrition advice happening in their own kitchen! 😂

10/06/2026

😴 Sleep: The Health Habit We Often Underestimate

We spend so much time talking about what we eat, how we exercise, and which supplements we should take—but sleep is one of the foundations of health that often gets overlooked.

Good sleep can support energy, appetite and metabolism, stress resilience, recovery, and digestion.

I'm going to be honest: I don't have a perfect bedtime routine! 😂
But I've slowly built a few habits that help me wind down:

🕰️ Keeping my sleep and wake times more consistent
🍗 Including protein at dinner
⏰ Finishing dinner 2–3 hours before bed when possible
🛁 Taking a warm bath when I have the time
💊 Taking magnesium glycinate as part of my evening routine
🍵 Enjoying herbal tea
📵 Getting at least 30 minutes screen-free before bed

But here's the part I think matters most:
Don't try to change everything at once.

I started with one habit. Once it became part of my routine, I added another—and then another.

You don't need a perfect bedtime routine. Pick ONE thing and start there.

What's one small sleep habit you'd like to work on?

10/02/2026

🚆💚 Healthy Selfie Friday

Taking the train to Old Pasadena with my son instead of driving through stressful traffic.

Less time worrying about traffic and more time to relax, catch up, and enjoy some quality time together.

Sometimes, wellness is about the little choices we make that help reduce stress and make more room for what matters.

What was your Healthy Selfie this week? 💚 Share it in the comments!

09/29/2026

🌱 Could you eat 30 different plants this week?

You've probably heard the recommendation to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But another simple goal to try is 30 different plant foods each week.

Research from the American Gut Project found that people who ate 30 or more different types of plants per week tended to have a more diverse gut microbiome than those who ate fewer.

But here's the important part: you don't have to start at 30.

Start by finding out where you are. For one week, keep track of the different plant foods you're already eating. Then build from there. If you're at 12, maybe your next goal is 15. If you're already at 25, try adding a few more.

And think beyond fruits and vegetables! Whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices all contribute to plant variety.

One clarification: in more recent versions of the 30-plants-per-week approach, herbs and spices are counted as ¼ of a plant. This helps keep the focus on eating a meaningful variety of plant foods rather than reaching 30 by adding tiny amounts of lots of different spices.

If you have a sensitive digestive system, increase your variety gradually and pay attention to how your body responds.

The goal isn't perfection. It's variety. 🌱

So, where are you starting?

Save this post and see how many different plants you can find in your week.

And if you want some help getting started,
I've linked my 30 Plants a Week Checklist in my bio.

09/22/2026

Thinking about starting a GLP-1? 💉
Before you start, think about your starting point.

There are a few nutrition and lifestyle foundations that are worth getting in place beforehand—especially if you already struggle with constipation, bloating, low energy, dehydration, low protein intake, or a sedentary lifestyle.

GLP-1 medications can reduce appetite and slow digestion, so preparing your body before you start may help you better navigate the changes that come with treatment.

I put together a simple checklist of 6 things to consider before starting a GLP-1. 👉 Swipe through!

And remember: the goal isn't just to lose weight. It's also to support digestion, hydration, nutrition, muscle, and overall health along the way.

Save this post if you're considering a GLP-1 or know someone who is. 💚

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