Hello and Welcome!
Meet Sally
I’m Sally, a registered dietitian and the owner of Nourished Roots. I started Nourished Roots with the desire to help others dive into root causes that may be impacting their body and find true nourishment.
My Personal Story
As a child and young adult, I had ever-present digestive issues that I thought were just “normal”. I was an athlete and a perfectionist. This combination meant that I drove myself to complete exhaustion just trying to manage everything: sports, grades, and chronic digestive issues. It didn’t help that no matter where I turned, I received the same types of well-intentioned messages from teachers, coaches, loved ones, and doctors alike:
“Work harder”
“Restrict more”
“Don’t be lazy”
As an adult, I was tired, my body ached, and I had unbalanced hormones. Yet, at the same time, my doctor told me that I was “fine” except for my high cholesterol. I knew my body was trying to tell me something wasn’t right, and I ultimately decided to listen.
I ran my own thyroid labs. As it turned out, I had an autoimmune thyroid disease called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This discovery forced me to check in with my own body and mind. What could be driving my body towards unbalanced health? I looked for possible root causes. The root causes that were triggering many of the symptoms I was experiencing were:
- Stress due to constant exertion
- Gut infections
- Impaired fat digestion due to genetics
- Heavy metal exposure
- Nutrient imbalances
Healing is not linear, but I have come so far in my healing journey. I have more energy, more joy, a greater purpose, and a love for my body! To this day, I still hear people say there is nothing you can do about thyroid antibodies, but I have brought them down to a healthy level! According to the labs, the Hashimoto’s I had been living with for years is in remission.
I realize that so many people are stuck in unhealthy patterns. Maybe they know there is more to health, but they don’t know where to start. I’ve been there. Pushing myself to exhaustion, with a bloated gut and joint pain, trying to do what I thought was right for my health, even if that meant ignoring my intuition.
I want to help you reach your full potential. As a registered dietitian and functional medicine nutrition specialist, my vision of wellness focuses on your unique needs and goals. I aim to help you work towards your optimal health through coaching, motivational support, and testing for the root cause of your health concerns. Band-Aids are helpful but temporary. Let’s create an action plan for what is really going on in your body.
It feels so much better to love and understand your body. Health allows us to truly enjoy life and creates the mental capacity to be creative, happy, and feel connected. Let’s create space for true health!
I want you to understand there is a path to wellness.
Professional Background
I received a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences from Penn State University and then went on to complete my Dietetic Internship at Virginia Tech. I began my career providing nutrition counseling and community nutrition education as a dietitian in New Jersey. Since then, I received a second credential in Integrative and Functional Medical Nutrition Therapy through Next Level Functional Nutrition as well as the Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management Program by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Outside Nutrition
I currently live in Denver, CO where I started Nourished Roots in 2017. I love being outdoors and enjoy the adventures of life with my husband Yonatan.
You can contact me by calling (303) 209-8640 or emailing me at sally@nourishedrootsrd.com.
Registered Dietitian
Sally Hammer, RD FMNS CLT
Holistic Nutrition Consultant
Joan Vye
Actually, I never gave much thought to how I treated my body for most of my life. I thought the universe hands you your cards, and you are either lucky or unlucky. The hand that I was dealt was chronic panic attacks and constant acid reflux. Nothing I could do.
I began having panic attacks in my first year of college. A classroom was the perfect trigger for my attacks: a room full of strangers, feeling trapped, bombarded with new information, and on top of all that, feeling like I didn’t belong. No matter how hard I tried to sit through a class, the panic would always win, and I’d quietly excuse myself. Eventually, I just dropped out altogether. I watched my friends graduate and start careers while I felt like my life was on hold because I was dealt a bad hand. I thought there was nothing I could do.
Sometime after dropping out of college, I picked up a diet book to lose some inconsequential amount of weight. To my benefit, that diet book actually had some solid advice beyond just how to drop pounds. The book taught me the value of focusing on real food rather than calories and the importance of the quality of food I put in my body. I swapped out my beige diet (cereal, chips, pasta, subs) for a vibrant and colorful one, a diet that truly nourished me. I changed my habits and found that I started feeling well both inside and out. I was completely shocked to discover that my mental health was improving too. Eventually, my panic attacks completely stopped, my chronic acid reflux went away, and I stopped caring about the pounds I thought I had to lose. I was discovering myself while I was healing my body!
The conventional medical community failed to help me, and I never realized that I could make changes on my own. This new sense of self-empowerment got me hooked on the subject of wellness. I began consuming any holistic and functional health information I could find. I studied on my own for years, helped my mom lose 90 lbs, and taught my friends how to take control of their own health through diet and lifestyle changes.
In 2012, I moved from Massachusetts to Colorado to study nutrition formally. On the first day, I sat in the classroom and waited for the panic to come like it always did before. I could feel butterflies of excitement, but no panic attack ever came. I cried happy tears my whole drive home after my first day back at school. I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t dealt a bad hand that I just had to put up with.
I went on to graduate just like all my friends had done years before. I received my certification in Holistic Nutrition Consulting in 2014 from Bauman College. Then, in 2021, I graduated with high honors from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a science degree in human nutrition and dietetics. I dream of pursuing my master’s degree in functional medicine to further bridge the gap between nutrition and mental health.
Looking back, I’m genuinely grateful for my struggles because they led me to my passion in life: helping you.
Our approach to nutrition focuses on nourishing your whole self: body, mind, and spirit. Together we will focus on how to nourish your unique and amazing body through individualized support. First and foremost, we listen to your story, background, goals and past barriers to better health to gain a better sense of your needs. We’ll work together toward achieving your individual goals for a happy and balanced life.
As nutrition coaches, we keep the focus on adding health — not deprivation or diets. Our role is to motivate and help you succeed at a pace that works for you. Along the way we’ll develop clear and achievable goals, or action steps, for you to work on in between sessions. These goals help track your progression and make healthy lifestyle changes seem natural.
We understand there is complexity behind each individual’s needs. What works for you may be different than what works for your best friend, sister or co-worker. Whole food choices geared toward your specific needs can change your physical and mental health and are a large part of furthering your path to wellness. Through dietary monitoring and testing we are able to identify your unique nutrient and genomic (gene expression) makeup. In doing so, we can implement targeted food and nutrition interventions to optimize nutrient metabolism and lower your risk of chronic disease.
We also realize that in order to make change possible, you may need cooking and recipe support. When foods are not enough, reputable and safe supplements may be recommended to support optimal health.
Our process
Real Coaching. Real Research. Real Results.
7 Benefits of Working With a Dietitian
Nourish Holistically
Sally focuses on nourishing the amazing you that already exists to flourish through nutrition and wellness interventions. This means taking the focus away from deprivation and looking at what we can add to support the healthiest version of you. Nourishing starts with the mind, body and spirit but continues on to the home, work place, and community.
Look at the Roots
The human body is complex and in constant communication with itself. A functional approach to nutrition knows every sign or symptom has a root cause. I look to find and bring balance to this root cause through nourishment, not just relieving the symptoms. For example, if you had a tack in your foot, would rather look to remove the tack or take a pill for the pain?
Support Through Goal Coaching
Real change doesn’t happen overnight. Along your wellness journey I will be there to help you identify goals for health and wellness as well as keep you accountable along the way. We move at a pace that is right for you and keeps you motivated.
Gain Hands-On Skills
Knowing what you need to do is important but knowing how is what creates change. I can tell you that your body might need more Vitamin A so you should eat more carrots and sweet potato but if you don’t know how to incorporate or prepare those foods into a meal it can be hard, if not impossible, to make the necessary changes. That’s why I make sure to offer services that can help you gain the skills needed to implement nutritional shifts.
Personalized plan
No two people are exactly the same. Let’s find what your body needs and what works for you!
Science-Based Counseling
Get the most updated nutrition facts and information.
Emotional & Behavioral Problem Solving
Find nutrition solutions that beat to your drum.
Source: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Our process
This isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle
We work with you to find the nutrition approach that meets your needs.
01 / Use
Science Based Nutrition Strategies
When you meet with Sally, you can be sure you are getting the most up-to-date information on nutrition facts. While there may be contradicting articles on controversial topics, some articles may questionably funded, or promote a one-size-fits-all diet. Knowing that every body reacts to food differently, Sally knows how to locate, interpret, and deliver scientifically-sound research that applies to your personal plan.
Dietitians are also able to debunk myths surrounding food by providing up-to-date information on the big picture, including nutrients, calories, serving sizes, food groups, labels, marketing tactics, food ingredients, allergies, interactions and how food is grown, manufactured, prepared, and cooked.
02 / Prepare
Personalized Plan
No two people are exactly alike, therefore neither are their nutritional needs. Sally will work with you to find the optimal nutrition plan. Through understanding your background, food intake, and nutrition related lab work, Sally is able to help you meet your individual needs and bring you to optimal health.
03 / Get
Big Picture Emotional and Behavioral Change
Dietitians work with the personal and emotional aspects to nutrition by providing motivation and support to their clients. Because eating is so personal and often requires behavior change, it’s useful to have a trusted and resourceful health professional to talk with that will help you celebrate, solve and/or adjust any of the many things that may occur during your journey to achieving your health goals. If you find that eating healthy is too difficult in your daily schedule, Sally can help you find solutions that beat to your drum. She can provide useful resources that may assist you in reaching your full potential.