Nutrition | RD
RD
Nutrition

As a registered dietitian and performance nutrition specialist, Adam Ross is a guide who can translate complex nutrition to help patients focus on the goals that will improve their overall health and well-being.

Ross never expected to work in health care. His path toward dietetics started when he discovered the importance of nutrition in his own life as a collegiate and then professional hockey player. Searching for ways to improve his athletic performance, Ross began researching nutrition and saw the benefits and pitfalls of trying to change his diet without scientific knowledge or expert support. After playing Division I hockey at Merrimack College and then playing for professional teams affiliated with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens, Ross followed his interest in nutrition and returned to school to complete a second bachelor’s degree, this time in nutrition and dietetics from Queens College in New York.

Ross worked for several years as a performance nutrition coach at Drive495 training gym in Manhattan before moving to St. John’s University as the campus dietitian, advising their Division I sports teams, other students, and faculty members on nutrition. While there, Ross also supported students navigating everything from eating disorders to the basic challenges of adjusting to college life.

Ross enjoyed working with young people because he saw how helping them develop healthy nutrition habits early on set them up for success as they entered adulthood. “There’s this knowledge deficit because nutrition is not something that we get taught,” Ross says. “I enjoy trying to close that gap and take the pressure off so that making healthy choices can be a little bit simpler.”

Ross also developed his own private nutrition coaching practice, and in 2018 he began treating patients online. This allowed him to work with a broad spectrum of people, from professional athletes to people looking to try new diets as they got older to improve their energy and longevity.

Ross brings his athletics background to crafting nutrition plans for every person. “Everybody’s looking for performance. If you’re 80, your level of performance is different than if you’re 20, but you’re still looking to be able to perform your activities of daily living at a higher level and live comfortably,” he says.

Whenever he meets a new patient, Ross starts by asking about their nutrition habits, their successes, and their struggles, and listening deeply before building a customized plan that is designed to fit their needs and their lifestyle. “Rather than trying to be perfect, we try to be consistently improving at all times,” he says. Ross focuses on three main areas for improvement: protein, food quality, and finding the right calorie intake for each person. Whether patients are looking to boost brain health, improve longevity and function, enhance their hormone health, or explore an anti-inflammatory diet, Ross says adjusting those three core categories can help. “My entire philosophy is to take something complex and make it as simple as possible,” he says.

By creating personalized, preventive nutrition plans, Ross says he can help patients feel better and make progress toward their overall health goals. In many health care settings, he has seen dietitians siloed and only able to offer band-aid solutions, but at Atria, Ross enjoys the opportunity to stay in touch with patients over time and work with his colleagues as part of a team that takes a proactive approach to treat them holistically.

“It’s fun to work directly with somebody and watch them make the mental and physical and environmental adjustments that it takes to improve their nutrition,” Ross says. “When somebody comes to me and says they’ve changed their life through nutrition, that to me is really cool.”

In his personal time, Ross has continued to play recreational hockey and enjoys working out at the gym and going on hikes with his wife. They also love to travel and frequently seek out trips that involve exploring new hiking trails.

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