Our Philosphy
At Real Food Dietitians we believe in a whole-food, real food approach for everyone. In simple terms this means: no refined carbohydrates, no packaged foods and no added sugars. By eating this way, we will naturally be eating a lower carbohydrate and higher fat diet. We don’t believe in a “one size fits all” approach to nutrition. Some individuals’ medical history will dictate a very low carbohydrate approach to eating, whereas others may tolerate higher levels and the same goes for fats.
Meet Our Team
Bridget Surtees
Bridget has 18 years’ experience as a clinical dietitian and has worked with people of all ages from neonates to the elderly. Her areas of expertise include paediatric nutrition, eating disorders and nutritional therapy for people with features of the metabolic syndrome (obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure)
Bridget obtained her qualification from the University of Cape Town in 1996 after studying a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and a Bachelor of Science Medical Honours in Nutrition and Dietetics. After graduating she worked overseas where she specialised as a paediatric dietitian through world-renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London Hospital. In 2003 Bridget moved to Sydney Australia and worked for the next 7 years at the Sydney Children’s Hospital. She returned to Cape Town in 2012 with her young family and started her own private practice Nutrition4Kids (www.nutrition4kids.co.za) where she continues to see paediatric patients. In 2014 Bridget and Tamzyn opened Real Food Dietitians.
Bridget is registered with Discovery to conduct Vitality Nutrition Assessments, including the Vitality Baby for during pregnancy and afterwards in baby’s first year.
She is co-author of Raising Superheroes along with Professor Tim Noakes and Jonno Proudfoot.
Tamzyn Murphy
Tamzyn is a registered dietitian with a Masters degree in Physiology (with Distinction), where she investigated low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) diets in Type 2 Diabetes. She is a clinician, speaker and writer with a special interest and experience in LCHF diets.
Tamzyn’s early work experience as a dietitian in the community sparked her passion for debunking the myths surrounding diet in the quest to find a nutritional therapy that can prevent and reverse the rising epidemics of obesity and related diseases. After her time in the community, Tamzyn worked in nutritional supplement research and development, and as a nutrition editor and writer for a health magazine. While researching articles for the health magazine Tamzyn became aware of the benefits of LCHF diets. This prompted Tamzyn to pursue her Masters degree and research in to LCHF diets, and to become co-founder of Real Food Dietitians, a private dietetics practice focusing on LCHF diets.
Tamzyn is currently working in clinical practice, and as a researcher and nutrition writer for The Noakes Foundation (non-profit LCHF nutrition organisation) and Nutrition Network (health professionals LCHF training platform). She also contributes to various publications and conducts interviews for magazines (such as YOU/Huis Genoot and Sarie), online publications (like BizNews and IOL), as well as on radio and television. She is co-author of Sugar Free: 8 weeks to Freedom from Sugar and Carb Addiction.