Hola, I’m Diane. I’m an Integrative Nutritional Therapist, Certified Spiritual Coach and I have Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS).

I know what it’s like to have no energy, to struggle with illnesses that keep you tethered to the couch or feeling hopeless.

I know how soul-sucking that life is because I lived it. In 2014, my battle with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) left me severely disabled. Edited to add: In May of 2023 I was diagnosed with Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) which is a type of motor neuron disease that causes the nerve cells in the brain that control movement to fail over time (think of it as the slower sibling of ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease).

In 2014 I had lost bilateral use of my hands, difficulty swallowing, extreme nerve pain, and needed assistance with bathing and personal care – all with my loving husband Jorge by my side.

To make matters worse, we had spent our entire life savings on medical bills. We were facing the most trying time of our lives.

By miracle and a passion for science, my husband would play me audiobooks and lectures while I was bedridden – that’s how I came across Dr. Terry Wahls. She too had MS and was once in a tilt reclining wheelchair.

She developed a protocol called the Wahls Protocol that revolves around a nutrient-dense Paleo-style way of eating, that targets the body at a cellular level to jumpstart healing. As I watched Dr. Wahls walk across the stage, I knew there was hope for me. This is when my healing journey began.

With a focus on bio-individual needs, I created a diet tailored to boost and restore my body’s chemistry. Through approaches such as empathic care, recipe creation, cooking classes, and meal prep, I supported my body through multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, and severe gastrointestinal issues. After graduating from the Nutritional Therapy Association, I furthered my education to become a board-certified Funtional Clinical Nutritionist and a certified spiritual coach, then took it further to become a food scientist and founded The Beneficial Bakery, a nutrient-dense allergen-free bakery.
I took the trifecta of healing through diet, cooking, and feeding loved ones and ran with it. Now, it is my mission to help others overcome whatever they may be confronting all the while empowering and connecting through delicious, healthy foods.

I dedicate my life to being the support, guidance, researcher, and recipe developer that I would have loved to have during my journey. I live in Southern New Jersey with my husband Jorge and my loving shih-tzu Lola. Equipped with a smile, a veggie-filled cookie, and my driving curiosity for science, I am ready to empower others with the tools and knowledge that through nutrition anything is possible.

After the science of food brought me from bedridden to buzzing around the kitchen, I knew I was onto something -- the recipes I had created made me feel alive from my toes to my taste buds. Nothing brought me more joy -- my soul was singing. 

As a Functional Nutritional Therapist, my mission is to assist you on your own journey toward reaching your optimum health. Blending my research background and passion for cooking to find what works best for you. We will work together, every step of the way, to help you feel and perform your best.

For me, food brings people together -- I love the connection and happiness surrounding time spent in the kitchen or around the table. My passion for picking fresh herbs from the garden and whipping up a home cooked meal means so much more to me knowing it’s packed with the nutrients vital to a healthy lifestyle. Equipped with a culinary arts background, a Nutritional Therapy degree, and a crazy-love for science, I built a foundation for my practice: creating recipes that will awaken your taste buds and help you live your best life.

In 2018 I received the certification as a Spiritual Coach. I decided to go back to school because so often and after many years of working with others, I have found that my client’s belief systems drive much of the physiological, emotional and spiritual dysfunction they are experiencing. Much of the time, they don’t know what it is they believe or how that may be thwarting the progress they are striving for in their healing. I use a very effective and straightforward technique that helps my clients uncover what the belief system is so that they can clear it through self-forgiveness. It is a wonderful adjunct to supplements, testing and diets and often overlooked by other (well-meaning) practitioners. I consider it to be instrumental to healing.

My practice is based on community. Community of the mind, body, and spirit working as a whole; families sharing healthy lifestyles; and truly bringing the essence of help and care through the unity of food to those who need it most.

My goal is to bring comfort, love, hope, and an “I Can Do This!!” attitude with every bite. Seeing my clients live their best lives brings me more pleasure (more tears of joy!) than I can ever express. That’s why I created Melano Nutrition.