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North Carolina Eating Disorder Dietitian, Nutritionist for Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, Binge-Eating, and Disordered Eating

How We Help

If you or your loved one struggles with disordered eating, we can help. 

As eating disorder dietitians and nutrition therapists, we support you with improving anxious or compulsive thoughts and behavior around food.  We provide gentle nutrition treatment, education, and guidance.  We also help to foster intuitive eating while reducing anxiety eating and shame around food and body image.

As ED dieticians and specialists, we combine our specialized nutrition knowledge with trained behavioral skills to support with eating disorder recovery. Together, we develop sustainable individualized diet plans and behaviors.  

We work with patients experiencing anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge-eating, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), orthorexia, pica, PANS, anxiety eating, compulsive eating, and other disordered eating issues.

How Does a Dietitian Help with Eating Disorders?

Dietitians are an essential part of an interdisciplinary team for supporting eating disorder recovery.  We work closely with this team that may include doctors, therapists, case managers, nurses, and/or psychologists. We combine our nutrition knowledge with strong counseling skills, to create a caring and positive space for our patients. 

Some of the specific roles of an Eating Disorder Dietitian Nutritionist include:

• Create a safe environment to address food and body issues that are barriers to optimum health                                                          
• Ally with you to discover and enhance your ability to re-direct and sustain the behavior and capability needed to sustain nutritional, physical and emotional well-being
• Re-direct behaviors to encourage sustainable nutritional, physical and emotional well-being
• Translation of nutrition science into practical advice on healthy eating
• Gentle education around the value of macro and micronutrients
• Calculating nutrient needs
• Creating tailored meal plans
• Adjusting plans based on eating disorder history and behaviors (i.e. restriction, purging, or laxative abuse)
• Practical education around food shopping and preparation
• Normalizing healthy eating behaviors
• Recommendation of dietary supplements for safe nutrient repletion
• Monitoring of nutritional status through nutrition-focused physical exam, micronutrient testing, screening, and biometrics

What’s the Difference Between and Eating Disorder Dietitian and Nutritionist?

The word ‘nutritionist’ is legally meaningless.  On the other hand, eating disorder dietitians have a minimum of a master’s degree in an accredited nutrition program, a year-long clinical internship, have passed a board exam, then have additional training and experience working within the specialized field of eating disorders. 

Eating disorder dietitians can legally provide medical nutrition therapy for disordered eating, meaning that they can provide insurance-covered medical care for diagnosed eating disorder patients.  ED dietitians also are qualified to collaborate with other licensed healthcare professionals on the care team, such as physicians and mental health professionals. 

Whether you, or a loved one, struggles with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge-eating, or other disordered eating problems, working with an eating disorder dietitian for your recovery ensures that you receive evidence-based, quality, and effective nutrition therapy.

Who Should Work with an Eating Disorder Dietitian?

We support with improving disordered eating, body image concerns, and nutritional status for individuals with:

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Binge Eating Disorder / Compulsive Overeating
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Night Eating Syndrome
• Orthorexia
• Pica
• Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
• PANS/PANDA
• Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED) – meeting some but not all of the criteria for an eating disorder. 

We work with adults, adolescents, and children.  We also can screen for disordered eating and refer to qualified allied professionals as needed. We are an outpatient clinic and do not provide inpatient eating disorder care. In cases where inpatient care may be needed, we coordinate and refer as necessary.

Our team of ED dietitian specialists optimize oral nutrition with a food-first approach, and additional use supplementation as needed and appropriate.  Simultaneously, we support the emotional and psychological side of anxiety and compulsion around food, weight, and body image.  However, we are not mental health professionals.  We require that our clients with eating disorders work with a mental health professional and an eating disorder dietitian simultaneously.

Eating disorders are serious, sometimes life-threatening conditions.  Thus, it’s critical to work with an allied team to identify suspected eating disorders, and to support with recovery in an appropriate care setting.

Moore County, North Carolina Eating Disorder Dietitian Nutritionist

Kay Graner, MNS, RD, LDN, IFNCP is an eating disorder dietitian with over 35 years of professional practice.  She uses a whole-body approach that acknowledges the connections between mind, body, and spirit.  In addition to her training and education in eating disorder nutrition, Kay also has training and credentials as an Integrative and Functional Nutrition Certified Practitioner (IFNCP). She additionally has training and expertise in gastrointestinal (GI) nutrition therapy.

Kay’s specialized training and education in disordered eating includes:

• EDRDPRO – Online training for weight inclusive Eating Disorder training. 7/11/2020
• “From Struggling to Thriving”: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Dietitians- online program 7/2020 (in progress)
• Workshop-Tending the Feminine Psych -Nutritional Psychology with Francie White & Anita Johnston 11/ 2019
• Workshop- Mind. Mood and Food. Center for Mind Body Medicine. Certificate of Training 9/2019
• Workshop- Eating and Mood Disorders. The University of North Carolina School of Medicine 11/ 2010
• The Renfrew Center Annual Conference In Philadelphia, PA focusing on Obesity and Eating Disorders 11/2006
• Workshop- Children, The Feeding Relationship and Weight. Ellen Satter, MS,RD, LCSW, BCD in Atlanta, GA 5/2005
• Workshop- Body to Die For: Advanced Training in the Treatment of Eating Disorders and Body-Image Disturbance in Women- Adrienne Ressler 4/2003
• Workshop- Tending the Feminine Soul with Francie White Omega Institute 2001
• Advanced Skills Training Workshop for Professionals Treating Eating and Body Image Distortions with Francie White and Carolyn Costin 4/2000
• Developed Program, brochure and presenter for First Health Moore Regional Hospital with Behavioral Services: Eating Disorder 9/1999
• CLark-Dartmouth Clinic, PA Southern Pines NC- Consultant for Nutrition Therapy: Eating Disorders -group and individual therapy. 1994-1996
• Rumbaugh Mental Health- Fayetteville, NC- Nutrition Consultant for Children and Adolescents with Emotional Eating issues. 1990- 1995

Get Medical Nutrition Support for Eating Disorder Recovery

Get help starting today.  Contact us to get started with skilled and compassionate eating disorder nutrition therapy.  You can call us directly at (910) 585-6748, can send a message via our contact page, or can book a short call with our clinical team HERE.

We offer consultations both via video tele-health and at our clinic in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Tele-health may not be advised in some clinical cases. Your dietitian will provide you with an individualized recommendation on this.

For referring providers, please complete our referral form HERE and return by fax or HIPAA-compliant secure email attachment.

For details about your insurance coverage visit our INSURANCE PAGE.  On that page, please download our insurance script for the specific questions that you can ask your insurance company about coverage with us.

Overview of Our Results-Driven Process

It’s never too early to get help with an eating disorder. Working with a licensed and trained eating disorder dietitian is the standard of care, as a part of the whole care team. With our support, you’ll have a path forward to wellness.

Want to discuss the details? Then book a free call with us to discuss how we can support you.

Nutrition Professionals You Can Trust

Many claim to be a nutritionist. However, only a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) meets rigorous academic requirements. This includes: Extensive clinical training, a nutrition degree from an accredited university, passing a rigorous board exam, and meeting continuing education requirements. Further, we are Licensed Registered Dietitians (LDNs) in the state of North Carolina. We are credentialed in Integrative and Functional Nutrition. We also stay informed of the guidelines set by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This allows us to provide our patients with expert nutrition counseling they need for success.

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