Meet our Dietitian
Alex Salmon
Accredited Practising Dietitian | Accredited Nutritionist
Master of Dietetics ‘14 | Graduate Diploma Human Nutrition ‘12 | Bachelor of Science ‘10
Hi, I’m Alex
I’m an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) based in Melbourne, Australia. After working with hundreds of women with breast cancer in inpatient care, chemotherapy units and oncology rehabilitation, I became frustrated with the lack of support and resources patients had access to. Many women were struggling with diet confusion, treatment side effects, and poor body confidence, and even though I knew I had the experience to help them, I never had enough time in the day with all my other clinical duties. So in 2022 I started Feel Better Nutrition to help more people with breast cancer to feel confident in their food choices and in their bodies.
After studying at Melbourne and Deakin Universities for 6 years, I started my career at St Vincent’s Private Hospital Melbourne in 2014. I found my home in Oncology when St V’s opened a new chemotherapy unit and oncology rehabilitation program in East Melbourne. The level of care there is incredible and I’m grateful to have worked alongside the medical and allied health team for several years, including with several leading oncologists. Seeing my patients doing better because of something we worked together to achieve feels amazing and that’s a huge part of why I’m drawn to oncology. It’s also close to my heart. I’ve been part of the cancer journey with my dad for many years and as he continues to fight and survive, it’s given me so much drive to help others in the same position.
Like many people I struggled with body image and diet in my younger years. Through my studies I discovered the negative impact diet culture has had on the way we feel about our bodies, always striving for the “thin ideal”, and leading us down a dangerous path of disordered eating. I started to reject the culture of dieting and the notion that thin was better and began to heal my relationship with food. I’d always wanted to understand more about the psychology of eating and so went on to do further training in the Non-Diet Approach, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Motivational Interviewing as well as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. This further study has enabled a more considered approach to working in the oncology space, acknowledging the psychosocial impact that cancer can have on diet variety, body image, food access and self-care.
In my work with breast cancer, I noticed many of my patients were experiencing stress and anxiety around food, struggling to fuel their bodies well and confused about their changing bodies. The extra study into food behaviour, weight science and the Non-Diet Approach has helped to provide extra support to those struggling with their body image. I’ve been rewarded with knowing I’m helping people on a deeper level and far beyond the cancer journey, and I hope to do this for many years to come.
If you’ve read this far, thanks for being here. I’ve got big dreams for this practice, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride with me.
Alex
