Dr Libby and My Food Bag’s Nadia Lim join forces to bring nutrition back to basics.
One week it’s protein loading, the next, fibre‑maxxing. Scroll again and suddenly creatine is the new way to optimise your health. Social media has turned nutrition into a litany of trends – and for
many, the result isn’t motivation but confusion.
A survey of more than 300 My Food Bag customers found over half (53%) feel so overwhelmed by conflicting health advice that they sometimes or often abandon healthy eating altogether.
It’s what prompted a collaboration between two of New Zealand’s most trusted voices in nutrition: founder of food-based supplement range Bio Blends, Dr Libby Weaver, and chef and My Food Bag co‑founder Nadia Lim. Both share a passion for simple, everyday eating, and each have identified the same problem: we’re losing sight of the basics.
Together, they’ve created a series of practical videos designed to empower viewers to reconnect with real, nourishing food.
“We wanted to bring Nadia’s practicality and my science chitchat together to help people simplify food again,” says Dr Libby, who wrote her latest book Fix Iron First to raise awareness around New Zealand’s biggest dietary deficiency. “When you’re eating nutritiously, you’re taking such great care of yourself and your family that all this ‘extra’ is usually not necessary.”
The nature of social media means the messages that tend to go viral are bold, but not always helpful or accurate. As a result, a trending supplement or a ‘quick-fix’ can seem more compelling than the timeless advice to eat more vegetables or listen to your body.
“There’s so much noise around nutrition,” Dr Libby agrees. “It’s tricky for people to decipher what’s real, what’s genuine, what’s a fad, what’s a trend, and what they can ignore.”
While some may offer benefits, many can be misleading or even counterproductive. Taking fibre to the extreme, for example, can block mineral absorption. Eating large amounts of protein without exercising may mean consuming more food than your body needs. Meanwhile, the basics are being missed.
“In New Zealand, the stats are terrible,” says Dr Libby. “Less than 10% of adults get their five or more serves of vegetables a day, and it’s worse for children. No amount of creatine is going to replace what you’re missing by not having all the things vegetables bring.”
Her concern isn’t for people who genuinely feel they benefit from certain supplements; it’s with those who feel pressured to spend money on them while overlooking foundational nutrition.
“It’s almost like trying to put petrol into a car that doesn’t have an engine,” Dr Libby adds.
A home‑cooked meal made from real ingredients goes a long way toward supporting health, she says, although she’s equally aware that for many people, the barrier isn’t knowledge but time.
She suggests starting small. With an average of 35 meals and snacks in a week, committing to one more real‑food meal per week can make a meaningful difference over time, she says.
She acknowledges it’s not always easy to find time to cook at home, a sentiment echoed by more than half of the My Food Bag survey respondents (55%), who said food – including planning, shopping and cooking – is one of the biggest contributors to their everyday mental load.
But one way she likes to challenge the notion of not having time is to switch up our mindset to one of curiosity.
“Often when we say we don’t have time for something, what we are really saying is ‘that’s just not a priority for me right now’… I encourage people to check in with themselves and see if they’re okay with that, because we know that there are immense health benefits from eating more home-cooked meals.”
That might mean delegating one dinner a week to a capable teenager, getting organised on Sundays or using tools that make the process easier. This is where My Food Bag’s Fresh Start range shines, says Dr Libby. The meals cut down on planning and shopping time, while offering a variety of real‑food dishes without ultra‑processed ingredients. The meals are flexible enough to suit a variety of dietary requirements and goals – from allergies and weight management plans to Mediterranean‑style eating and gut health.
“With Fresh Start, I love that people can tailor it to their own needs and what they’re trying to achieve with their health,” she says.
Dr Libby adds that she’s a big fan of Lim’s ‘nude food’ philosophy: eat real food from the ground, the sea, and the sky; ignore fads; and trust your gut.
For Lim, Fresh Start builds on the philosophy My Food Bag was originally created around – making healthy eating feel simpler and easier to sustain in everyday life.
“It’s about taking away some of the guesswork,” she says. “Fresh Start is built around balanced meals and simple, nourishing food that people can realistically stick to long-term.”