Ashely Koff, RD, helps people, practitioners and businesses identify and make better nutrition choices more often for better health outcomes. Today, as founder of The Better Nutrition Program, Koff offers solutions to deliver truly personalized healthcare at scale.
Being a solo practitioner for over two decades, having trained and worked in big hospitals, and having had to do my own marketing to get and retain patients helps me understand the variety of needs practitioners face today.
Before that, I was an ad executive tasked with selling sugary cereals; we did so really successfully with approved "heart healthy" and "delivers the most energy in the morning" messaging! So I really get the consumer confusion and frustration to which I regrettably contributed, as well as what drives choice and investment. And why when practitioners who just tell someone to eat differently, it doesn't work. Thus, the content that we develop at BNP, which also stands for “better not perfect” (yes, still a marketer), has to meet people where they are, help them identify their better choices and how to make those choices more often.
Sheldon Baker is an InnoVision contributing editor. His freelance editorial content can also be found in several lifestyle publications, and as CEO of Baker Dillon Group LLC, he has created numerous brand marketing communications and public relations campaigns for health and wellness organizations. Contact him at Sheldon@NutraInk.com.
Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal (IMCJ): Personalized nutrition has grown tremendously in recent years. Is this one of the reasons you launched The Better Nutrition Program™ (BNP)?
Ashely Koff, RD: Yes. I’ve practiced using personalized nutrition for over two decades as an individual practitioner with great results. The rise in consumer demand for and popularity of companies marketing their products as personalized nutrition solutions was definitely a factor in launching BNP. I believe that practitioners and our patients—not most companies claiming personalized offers—put the “P” in personalization and wanted to make it as easy for us to deliver this type of care, as well as to compete, rather than be sidelined, in this rapidly growing marketplace.
To accomplish these goals, a few things needed to happen:
First, we needed to shift our model to ensure continuous assessment of a patient’s total nutrition and lifestyle choices. To do it, it must be easy for both patient and practitioner. Too often, assessment stops at the initial consultation, and doesn’t include total nutrition (food, beverages, and supplements) or a complete assessment of lifestyle choices. Failing to repeatedly assess intake and show (not tell) a patient their better choices is a key reason people don’t often progress from following recommendations short term to creating lasting change.
Second, we needed to change the emphasis on goals as opposed to experiments. With goals, patients feel that something may not be attainable, or it is a destination you reach. Health doesn’t work like that and many of them have too many “failures” already affecting their belief in their own ability to succeed. Experiments help a practitioner and patient see how their body responds and whether something is doable for them, today. The experiment is either a success or a failure, not the patient. This creates a much better psychological opportunity for ongoing success and engagement.
Third, I knew that most practitioners need help. They need resources to implement the support their patients need and to get real-time feedback on their patients’ progress. Too many are burnt out from trying to do it all and are often not working in their zone of genius. We want practitioners to spend their time doing what lights them up and reaching as many individuals as they choose. They want better patient and business outcomes, and they need help to do it. This is why I created The Better Nutrition Program (BNP) which features BNP Programs™, BNP Coaching™ and The BNP Toolkit™.
IMCJ: You’ve been a registered dietitian for over twenty years and before that an advertising executive. How did your background impact what you’ve created?
Ashely Koff, RD: Being a practitioner, having trained and worked in big hospitals, run a solo practice, and having had to do my own marketing to get patients helps me understand the variety of needs practitioners face today. Though I feel lucky that by the time dancing on social media came around my practice was full, so I didn’t need to try that! My career as an ad executive included creating and helping to sell sugared cereals—and doing so with approved messaging that it was heart healthy and delivered the most energy in the morning. I get the consumer confusion and frustration. And I really understand consumer behavior—both what drives choice and investment. I understand why practitioners who just tell someone to eat differently won’t work, and how someone could be confused about what does provide better—not more—energy. The content that we develop at BNP, which also stands for “better not perfect” (yes, still a marketer), has to meet people where they are, help them identify their better choices and how to make those choices more often.
IMCJ: Please describe how the program works (for doctors and patients), and why you can make the health claim it is a proven system.
Ashely Koff, RD: I think it is first important to look at what success is. To me, it is defined on our own terms, not someone else’s. While the doctor wants the person with diabetes to no longer be diabetic, the person wants to enjoy their nights out with friends, to afford groceries for their family, to find their food delicious and to do activities that they enjoy. And yes, they want their ‘sugars’ to be better too. The proof that BNP is a system that successfully helps people get and stay healthy is that our clients—the patients of practitioners or individuals who’ve found us on their own—find ways to be successful on their terms. And this works because our board-certified coaches working in collaboration with a clinical team help them identify their better choices, implement practitioner recommendations, experiment to see what will work and pivot in real-time when life happens or something just isn’t a better choice for them, today. We help them see wins when they happen, and to move on from choices they make that don’t support their body’s needs. And we focus on this as a journey, not a goal or specific destination, that together we navigate at a pace that is doable for them.
This is what doctors and employers and individuals know they need – a my size vs. one size approach. But they haven’t had the resources. That’s why The Better Nutrition Program was created.
IMCJ: Is The BNP Toolkit™ a vital part of, and unique to your doctor-patient programs?
Koff: No, and yes. The BNP Toolkit™ is a separate product exclusively for practitioners, and some of the tools are included in different BNP Programs™ as downloads for participants. The Toolkit contains 100-plus patient evaluation and education resources in English and Spanish. Practitioners may use it themselves for patient education, assessment, re-evaluation and for marketing to existing and new patient prospects. It is so much easier to send someone a rainbow or fiber evaluation for them to redo or share the Sweet Taste Bud test every quarter and have the results show the patient why they would benefit from reconnecting with the practitioner or their personalized nutrition partners (that’s BNP).
Unlike most patient resources, The BNP Toolkit™ content helps individuals understand and experiment with personalization, to see the value of their practitioner, and to assess their choices—nutrition and lifestyle—through a lens that makes it clear to see their impact on their health goals. Too often, I see practitioners sharing content that isn’t personalized (here are the supplements women 40-plus need) while trying to communicate the value of their personalized services (we do lab work to identify what your body needs). These conflicting messages challenge their ability to compete and often result in the prospect trying different supplements or buying labs or wearables sold directly to them excluding their practitioner from their care. I am committed to being a resource to provide practitioners content that resolves this conflict and helps them show off their superpower—truly personalized care.
IMCJ: Staying on the topic of supplements, let’s look at magnesium, if a doctor says you need magnesium and a patient could purchase the cheapest magnesium at their local big box retailer, weeks later, they may be running to the bathroom every 10 minutes and they stop taking the supplement. But if they invested in your program, they wouldn’t have that problem.
Ashely Koff, RD: Correct. We help reduce the likelihood of them buying something that is ineffective or worse. And we do this in a few ways. Practitioners can use the magnesium evaluation to show a patient they are insufficient in their intake (this may come after doing a micronutrient panel that reveals insufficiency or frank deficiency or they may not be able to invest in that lab as a resource). The assessment helps the patient understand the types of magnesium are different, how their food choices impact their magnesium intake, what nutrients compete with magnesium and how certain lifestyle choices affect their magnesium needs.
With these results, they can use the magnesium menu to help identify choices that the patient will experiment with (amounts and frequency) to meet their needs and / or agree to add a supplement. And the practitioner can show them how the type of magnesium is being selected based on their goals. They can do all of this OR they can invite their patient to do BNP’s Magnesium Calcium Optimizer™ program or to invest in a month with a BNP Coach™ to optimize their magnesium levels.
And then, either the practitioner or their personalized nutrition team (that’s BNP) will reconnect with the patient monthly or quarterly to reassess intake and to see at optimized levels how their body functions.
IMCJ: Can patients self-monitor their progress to determine if the BNP is working for them?
Ashely Koff, RD: Yes. Not just self-monitoring, but collaborative monitoring. This is one of the reasons I feel The Better Nutrition Program helps a practitioner to do something that is better than what a patient could do when they do something self-paced or self-monitored. Imagine if you’re just checking your Oura Ring or checking your continuous glucose monitor, or you track your water or fiber or whatever on your phone. This is data collection, and it may work to help you increase your intake or decide to have less of something (typically less carbs if wearing a CGM) but it doesn’t help you necessarily make better choices or understand the impact of other factors beyond just the water or the carbs. For example, what if you are drinking more water and just peeing more often. Absorption is really your issue. You are a hose not a sponge and as such you aren’t getting the benefit of optimal water intake into your cells along with the nutrients it carries. What if you stop having carbs from the CGM but in doing so reduce your fiber or magnesium or vitamin B intake further and eat more meat or fats? What if the elevated blood sugar is because of non-nutrition factors like stress, sleep, and digestion. You aren’t getting to the root of your blood sugar challenges.
Collaborative monitoring means a patient gets the insights of a practitioner or clinical team and the support of a coach to take meaning from their data and conduct new experiments to see what helps their body run better. In our opinion at BNP this is the better way.
IMCJ: How is your program different from consumer programs such as GoLo, Noom Cenegetics or others?
Ashely Koff, RD: There are three key reasons. First, we offer live coaching sessions, not just unlimited messaging. Our coaches are overseen by a clinical team, so they stay in their scope while ensuring that participants get a clinically vetted response. Second, we work with, from, and collaborate as a team with their practitioner. And finally, our program is different because we develop and implement a roadmap—but continuously assess and revise it based on real-time feedback—for a truly personalized plan.
IMCJ: How about chronic health issues?
Ashely Koff, RD: In many instances, we’re part of a process where patients are looking to reverse a disease such as diabetes, heart disease or to improve their health after cancer treatments. This is why our approach as an extension of your practitioner’s team differentiates us in a better way. We need to reduce not add to the confusion that a patient can experience when getting advice or goal setting with resources that don’t communicate. We also can help the practitioner understand and adjust their recommendations if we discover challenges or something that isn’t working better for their patient.
IMCJ: Is your diabetes program designed to get people’s A1C down to a normal range or to manage it?
Ashely Koff, RD: If you look at the literature, there’s 97-plus million people who are diabetic and probably another 30 or 40 million who are pre-diabetic. That makes our Blood Sugar Optimizer™ programs very important. Over 30- or 90-days participants wear a 14-day continuous glucose monitor as well as learn about the 40-plus factors that impact blood sugar. We show them how Time in Range (TIR) and fasting insulin are better personalized resources than A1C or fasting glucose for understanding how their blood sugar is throughout the day and why.
Our team works as a mirror, showing them how their choices impact their blood sugar. We dive under the hood to investigate hydration, digestion, sleep, stress, and exercise as well as nutrition. Whether diabetic or working to not be, we help people develop both a lifestyle that supports optimal blood sugar levels and an understanding of what to pay attention to as life happens so they can be proactive as well as react as soon as possible when things start to shift in an unhealthy direction.
IMCJ: What success have health professionals who have tried your BNP program experienced?
Ashely Koff, RD: One practitioner stands out. When she started, her goal was to run a small practice as she was worried about navigating her kids’ time. Embracing BNP, she uses our program for coaching packages, and our clinical team to collaborate on patient care. She has been able to scale up to five-times the number of patients and take time off to travel and attend to personal matters knowing that BNP can support her patients. Another practitioner uses our digestive tune up for every patient before she does labs or additional testing and personalizes their plan. Another practitioner went on maternity leave and BNP took over to support her existing patients.
IMCJ: BNP can be a real money maker for doctors.
Ashely Koff, RD: Yes. But we prefer to focus on profits because that also includes how the practitioner gets to spend their time better—and their time is a business cost that is often not evaluated on profit and loss statements. As such, we enjoy being a profit amplifier because you make more profits by not spending your time on things that aren’t your better use of time and that cost you and your practice. Additionally, we keep our prices low to make them accessible to patients so the percentage as optional revenue to the practitioner per program or coaching package may not be as high as other affiliate opportunities. But we see it as important because we want patients to also be able to afford labs, supplements, maybe a trainer or different food choices etc. as part of their plan.
IMCJ: Do you have health professionals on your BNP team?
Ashely Koff, RD: We have several. Doctors, dietitians, clinical nutrition specialists, therapists, and others. BNP seeks to deliver care that is both evidence- and practitioner-based.
IMCJ: Do you partner with a third party to formulate and white label nutrition products or just work with a trusted supplement manufacturer to ensure patients correctly get what they need?
Ashely Koff, RD: We do not. We rely on practitioners to make recommendations. We also let individuals shop at our Fullscript store (not all, but several) with a 20% discount if they are a BNP customer.
IMCJ: Of all your available programs, which have garnered the most attention?
Ashely Koff, RD: Our Blood Sugar Optimizer™ (CGM), Sweet Taste Bud™, Digestive Tune Up™ programs and our new Personalized Health Action Plan.
IMCJ: What is the duration of a BNP? How soon might a patient see results?
Ashely Koff, RD: It all depends on the participant. Our programs range from 30-90 days however, most participants continue monthly with coaching packages, a personalized health action plan or another program. Results are personal, of course, but we often hear within days that someone loves the BNP difference—they love having a coach to message with or feel heard when the clinical team responds in real-time to questions. Because we function as a mirror to show them their successes or wins when they happen, they see results quickly—and get feedback to move on when an experiment reveals something isn’t better for them. The result can be learning that something doesn’t work for them—those are just as if not more important than the successful ones.
IMCJ: As a marketing expert, how do you build your client base? And how does a doctor become a preferred practitioner during what many are seeing as a health system in crisis?
Ashely Koff, RD: Meeting practitioners where they are at conferences, speaking, teaching in webinars and other health professional events, and for consumers we focus on collaborations with companies that want their customers to have truly personalized experiences. Like our 3×4 Comprehensive Health Plan that includes a 3×4 Genetics test, a 30-day roadmap, and monthly coaching/programs to help someone implement their steps to success rooted in their DNA.
We have the option to sign up a health professional as a Preferred Practitioner, otherwise the consumer can shop here and consume what they want vs. what they need. Doctors can become a preferred practitioner by visiting our website, https://thebetternutritionprogram.com/become-a-bnp-preferred-practitioner/ or via email at hello@thebetternutritionprogram.com
IMCJ: What is the cost of the programs for health professionals, as well as for consumers?
Ashely Koff, RD: The cost runs from $175 for one month to $575 for three months. Our roadmaps are about $179-$249. Preferred practitioners can choose to offer a 30% discount or to generate revenue from some portion of the 30% while passing on the rest as a discount to their patients. We encourage this as they are still working on their patient’s care while they are in a BNP program or coaching package.