The Biology of Behavior: A Look at Nutrition

Podcast

We’re constantly flooded with advice about what to eat, from headlines to rigid food rules.

But behind all of that, some voices offer a different kind of guidance. Voices that encourage us not to follow the latest trend, but to slow down and tune in to what our own body is trying to say.

One of those voices belongs to Katie Barngrover, a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner who didn’t set out to become a health coach. Her path started in the classroom, where she spent over a decade teaching math and science, and quietly observing the effect food had on her students. Later, when her own family faced difficult health challenges, those observations turned into action.

Katie’s story isn’t just about food. It’s about how healing begins when we stop following cookie-cutter advice and start paying attention to what makes us feel well as individuals.

When the Body Sends Signals

Katie shares her journey with remarkable honesty: repeated miscarriages, mysterious headaches, and a constant feeling that something was off. Through food sensitivity testing, she discovered an intense dairy intolerance that had likely been triggering inflammation for years. Once she removed dairy, the headaches disappeared.

Her husband, after a long and frustrating medical search, was finally diagnosed with celiac disease, only after they took it into their own hands to eliminate gluten and see what happened.

Even her young son, prone to intense emotional outbursts and difficulty focusing, found calm when simple sugars and processed carbs were removed from his diet.

Each discovery was another reminder that food isn’t just fuel. It’s information.

Not One-Size-Fits-All

Katie’s work now centers around the idea that no two people are alike when it comes to nutrition. A food that works for one body might disrupt another. She uses specialized testing to help her clients figure out what their bodies truly need, not just what’s trending in wellness media.

While testing isn’t always the most accessible route, she shared practical advice too: starting with whole foods, cutting back on processed ingredients, and noticing how you feel, not just in the moment, but an hour or two after eating. That kind of self-awareness can be more powerful than any diet plan.

A Word for Parents and Teachers

One of the most compelling parts of our conversation was the connection between food and children’s behavior. As a former teacher and now a parent, Katie has seen how sugar crashes, artificial ingredients, and inflammatory foods can show up as mood swings, inattention, or outbursts. These behaviors are signs of stressed bodies.

This isn’t about perfection in eating (no such thing exists). It’s about patterns. It’s about asking the question, “Could this be connected to what they’re eating?” and being willing to try something different.

What Stuck With Me

As someone who’s not a nutritionist, I walked away from this conversation not with a list of rules, but a reminder: health isn’t just about what’s “right” or “wrong.” It’s about learning to observe, to experiment, and to care enough to make adjustments when something isn’t working.

Katie reminded me that the small, quiet shifts, like reading a food label, swapping snacks, or asking a new question, can lead to much bigger change over time.

I’ll leave the food testing and expert advice to people like her. But I’ll keep listening, and I hope more of us do too.

Want to learn more about Katie’s work or explore food sensitivity testing? You can find her at angelwinghealth.com.