The Dietitian
Emily Cook Harrison MS, RD, LD
Emily is a registered dietitian (RD) and holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nutrition from Georgia State University. Her master’s thesis research was on elite level ballet dancers and energy balance and the relationship to injuries. She completed her dietetic internship through GSU and has completed additional training in several areas of nutrition. She has experience providing nutrition counseling for people with diverse needs including athletic performance, weight management, wellness, food allergies/ intolerances, celiac disease, and eating disorders. She has worked with hundreds of dancers to encourage healthy eating and positive body image. She is a public speaker who has done nutrition workshops and food demos for leading dance schools and universities. She is also an experienced writer who regularly contributes to print and online dance publications as well as frequently being an expert source in nutrition for journalists.
Emily received her dance training at the Rotaru Ballet School and Boston Ballet School. She danced professionally with Boston Ballet II and Ballet Internationale in Indianapolis, IN where she worked with legendary Kirov dancers Eldar Aliev and Irina Kolpakova. She also danced for Emmy award winning choreographer Michael Smuin in his San Francisco company. Emily then joined the Atlanta Ballet where she danced leading roles in addition to being a faculty member with the NASD accredited Centre for Dance Education. She ran the Centre for Dance Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles at AB for 6 years and now runs her private practice Dancer Nutrition LLC . Emily is also the mother of two children and understands the unique challenges parents face when it comes to feeding children, especially ones with food allergies.
Photo Credit: Charlie McCullers
You can reach Emily at Emily@dancernutrition.com or through her contact page.
“Emily truly helped and encouraged me with her words of wisdom and by helping to guide me when I was injured if it was not only to get on the right track of figuring out what is best to eat when one is injured and not dancing since dance has been my life since I was 5.”
“I learned from Emily that taking too much vitamin C can cause bone loss. This is very important for me because I have osteopenia and dealt with broken bones.”
“I’ve never taken a significant amount of time off and so to hear her suggestions when I had a lot of time off sitting around. Making some changes in nutrition helped me to realize what was/is best for me. I’m very thankful and feel energized and happy.”