About Me

I have an eclectic background in nutrition that includes stints at a major consumer publication, a government agency, an obesity research nonprofit, an integrative health clinic, and a holistic fertility center. I completed my undergraduate degree at Syracuse University in Journalism, and my graduate degree at Tufts University in Nutrition Communication. I completed my supervised practice hours to become a registered dietitian at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia campus. I care about food quality, food systems, environmental effects on health, food anthropology and culture, family nutrition, and mindset/behavior change science. I live on a 33-acre working farm in Washington County, Maryland and help run Purifying Pastures, a farm food delivery service, with my husband. We have two daughters and a son.

Whole Health RD, LLC is run by
Nicole Ferring Holovach, MS, RD, LDN.

About My Practice:

There is so much information out there on what we should and shouldn’t be eating. Recommendations seem to change every month or so! Everyone has an opinion, a blog, a book, and attests to incredible health from their chosen ‘diet’. After 20+ years of studying nutrition and implementing various dietary practices on myself and my clients, I have found facts in basic human physiology (how the body works) and use those to guide my practice – not opinions on the latest nutrition study du jour. I have arrived at some fundamental principles which I now share with my clients.

I don’t think there is one diet that those who live long healthy lives adhere to. Instead, I think there are some common practices that healthy people around the world have in common. Restrictive diets full of expensive “super foods” and aimless supplements are not among these practices! I would say those that live well into old age have low stress levels (or know how to manage their stress), minimal inflammation, and have a high metabolism. I believe that we should eat a diet and live a lifestyle that focuses on these three things: minimizing stress levels and inflammation, while supporting the metabolism.

Metabolism is often thought of as how easily a person gains or loses weight. But the ability to lose/maintain/gain weight easily is only a small part of what the word metabolism actually means. Metabolism is the sum total of all hormonal and metabolic processes within the body that are involved in maintaining life. Or in layman’s terms, how efficiently is your body is functioning at a cellular level? This “inside out approach” differs from mainstream nutrition recommendations, which focus on how food affects specific symptoms or disease outcomes. I’d rather focus on, how does food affect physiology?

Is your body producing enough energy to function optimally?

I became interested in metabolic health and hormones when learning how to manage my hypothyroidism/Hashimoto’s disease, endometriosis, and dyshidrotic eczema, which are no longer issues due to dietary and lifestyle changes.

“Most of the research I’ve done has funneled me closer and closer to one fundamental truth. That fundamental truth is that maintaining a high level of cellular energy production with a high metabolic rate and moderate levels of stress hormone exposure is the most useful and far-reaching health asset of them all. Every system of the body is influenced by the tug-of-war between energy and stress.”

But above all else, I’m all about educating people and creating awareness about food, health, and nutrition issues, not fear mongering! My recommendations are based on research, physiology, cultural and historical context, individual needs, and common sense! I hope you’ll find working with me to be a very liberating experience, especially if you are caught up in today’s restrictive world of dietary dogma.

“There is no perfect food; each comes with give and take. When eating for health, savvy eaters choose foods that give the most and take away the least.”