Leah McGrath

January 5, 2021 Program

Leah McGrath is the dietitian at Ingles. She has been a Registered Dietitian since 1996. Leah holds degrees in Speech Communications and Human Nutrition and has completed course work towards a master’s degree in Marketing. After resigning her active duty commission in the Army, Leah worked for almost two years with the South Carolina Department of Public Health. In 2000 Leah accepted the position with Ingles Supermarkets as their Corporate Dietitian and moved to Asheville, NC.

Leah writes regularly for WNC Parent Magazine, Upstate Parent Magazine, Smoky Mountain News and Smoky Mountain Living magazine and the Asheville Citizen Times. She is a frequent guest on WLOS-TV (ABC) in Asheville and Your Carolina in Greenville SC where she presents recipe and nutrition information segments. She also hosts the weekly radio program, “Ingles Information Aisle” on WWNC 570am which can be heard anywhere in the world through the Iheart radio network.

In the past few years Leah has become well known for her work in social media and is currently the most followed supermarket dietitian (@InglesDietitian) in the U.S on Twitter.  She coordinates both the Facebook and Twitter accounts for Ingles Markets and has developed innovative strategies to connect brands and products to consumers and inform customers about health and nutrition.

Leah proceeded to give us hints for healthy living.  Hints such as pick nutrient dense foods such as a baked potato over fries. Another hint is to choose a variety of food options from each category.   A third hint is to pay attention to portion sizes.  She stated that beverages have lots of empty calories.  Leah stated that the food pyramid is out and instead “my plate” is what is used today.  She told us in 2021 packaging is changing to reflect how people are shopping. Also, stores are pairing down and increasing or decreasing items as needed.  Leah said prices are on the increase.  Thank you Leah for all the great information.