About Me
I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist with extensive experience developing recipes and also work as a communications specialist and spokeswoman for top food brands. After more than two decades leading test kitchens at some of the most important names in magazines, including Weight Watchers, Prevention, and Family Circle, I established my own culinary nutrition practice in 2018.
I’m passionate about creating better-for-you recipes for savvy cooks as well as beginners in the kitchen. I develop programs and recipes for a wide range of culinary and housewares clients, commodity boards and startups, and share their messages about good food and good health. Good nutrition is the foundation of my work. I’m proud to say that I was a culinary nutritionist before the term was even coined.
My Personal Story
Like many professional nutritionists and dietitians, my interest in pursuing this career came from my own struggles with food.
As the eldest daughter of first generation Italian-Americans, family life was all about food. We did eat a healthy Mediterranean diet but I couldn’t resist all those tempting processed foods that cropped up in the 1960s. I felt stressed and anxious most of the time at my strict Catholic school, and treats like Hostess Pies, Devil Dogs, Trix cereal and Tang helped comfort me.
By age eight I was hooked on treats. I will never forget the humiliation of shopping in the “chubette” department, especially for special occasions. While all the other girls looked like princesses in their dainty white communion dresses, I felt like hiding in the only husky-size dress I could find.
A note from school woke me up. It said, “your daughter is too fat, put her on a diet!” Luckily, mom was kind about it, and worked hard to help me eat well. It helped that she was a terrific cook.
Learning how to create healthy recipes for food I loved to eat and that helped me lose weight too and gave me a sense of freedom and satisfaction I’d never known. I was hooked. I went on to get an undergraduate degree in nutrition and a master’s degree in nutrition education from New York University, and have been creating recipes and sharing tips and insights on how to enjoy food and eat healthfully ever since.
Professional Bio
Expertise:
Nutrition Communications | Recipe Development | Brand Strategy | Influencer Outreach and Engagement | Food Trend Spotting
Experience
Current:
Principal, Regina Ragone Consulting
Manage corporate nutrition programs
Create and teach “food as medicine” cooking classes
Provide one-on-one nutrition consultations
Consult for Happify wellness app
Past Experience:
Vice President Coaction PR, lead on Le Creuset account
Food Director for Family Circle Magazine
Spokesperson for the California Fig Advisory Board
Cookbook Author: Win the Fat War Cookbook and Decadent Desserts for DIabetics; co-author: Meals That Heal, Family Circle Healthy Family Dinners, Stop Dieting and Lose Weight, and Weight Watchers Coach Approach
Registered dietitian nutritionist and member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Vice President Nutrition at Ogilvy and Hunter Public Relations. Consulted top names in food including Kraft, Unilever, and Welch’s
Food Editor, Weight Watchers and Prevention magazines
Adjunct Professor Food Science, New York University
BS Nutrition New York University, MS Nutrition Education Queens College
Member, Les Dames d’Escoffier New York