Get to know your NDIS dietitian, Jessica Tanderayuana
We’ve asked our lovely dietitian, Jess Tanderayuana, a couple of questions so that you can get to know her!
Why did you become a dietitian?
From a young age, I became really interested in science, specifically understanding all the intricate processes of the human body. With a love for food, I soon began to grow an interest in the role that food plays in changing our physical health, mood, brain function, healing, and growth. I loved sharing the knowledge I learned and realised that a formal education and career in dietetics could help me help to live out my passion professionally. I really felt the impact that I could make in the community when I had my clinical placements during my final year of my Master’s degree where I saw and felt how rewarding it was to help people living with chronic disease eat better to improve their symptoms and overall quality of life through food!
What has led to your passion for disability?
Through watching both my parents work in the disability space – mum working as a disability support driver and dad working as a support worker, I saw how rewarding working in disability is and how I can use my knowledge and skills as a dietitian to make visible and life-long changes to those living with a disability and their support network through education and capacity building.
Do you have a memorable experience of assisting a client to achieve their goals that you’d like to share?
One of the first patients I cared for was a man who was severely malnourished from alcoholic liver cirrhosis. In my initial consultation with him, I was unable to speak with him as he was delirious and did not have the stamina to keep a conversation. However over the course of 2 weeks, through oral nutrition support and dietary counseling, upon my last review prior to his discharge, he was like a different man! He was lively, he loved to joke, his facial features were more filled-in than before and he was motivated to quit alcohol and use his money to buy healthy, nourishing food that he was provided in the hospital because of the way it had made him feel. Since I was able to witness the drastic change that was brought on through diet, this experience really motivated me to want to see more lives changed through nutrition.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to cook and trial new recipes from various types of cuisines. I also love to bake and decorate cakes for friends and family.
What is your favourite food?
Hard to pick a favourite – but I love durian and seafood.
In another life, if you weren’t a dietitian, what do you think you’d be doing?
A cafe owner, running a cafe with my parents who both love making, sharing, and eating food as much as I do.
What is one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you? Do you have a hidden talent?
Not a hidden talent but I do love to lift weights in my spare time – something I picked up from my brothers when they offered me to join them at the gym in 2018.
What is your favourite movie, book?
Movie – Pirates of the Caribbean – any movie from this series
Book – 7 Lessons from Heaven
Holiday – my trip to New Zealand
Thanks so much to Jess for sharing more about herself and her reason for working in disability with our community!! We hope that you’ve enjoyed getting to know her! If you’d like to arrange services with Jess or another of our therapists, please contact us today!
Jessica Tanderayuana provides Active Ability’s dietetic services in the North West of Sydney. Specifically, you would see Jess in Dural, Kenthurst, Box Hill, Rouse Hill, Schofields, Blacktown, Seven Hills, Toongabbie, Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill and Kellyville.