YOUR CULTURE. YOUR HEALTH. ILLUMINATED.
Nourish Your Body Without Giving Up Your Culture
Personalized, culturally-rooted nutrition counseling with a registered dietitian. Keep the foods you grew up with. Just build a smarter plate around them.Registered Dietitian (RD, LDN) · Licensed in NC, FL, IL, OR · Telehealth available in 9 states · Insurance accepted (BCBS, Aetna, United Healthcare)
You're Tired of Advice That Wasn't Made for You
You've been told to swap rice for quinoa and okra for kale. You've tried plans built for someone else's kitchen, someone else's family, someone else's life. It didn't stick — and that was never about your discipline. It was about a plan that never understood where you come from.
If any of this sounds familiar, you're in the right place:
01
You're thinking about your blood sugar, blood pressure, or weight — but you don't want another extreme diet.
02
You want your family to eat healthier, without cooking two separate dinners every night.
03
You want a plan that respects the foods tied to your identity, your family, and your traditions — not one that treats them like the problem.
Keep the Tradition. Adjust the Lever.
That's the whole philosophy, in six words: small, targeted changes — not a ban on the foods you love.
Instead of beginning with unnecessary restriction, Willande helps clients explore realistic ways to balance familiar foods — rice, beans, plantains, oxtail, the dishes tied to your family — around their individual health needs. Every plan is different, because every body, every diagnosis, and every family is different. No fantasy meal plans. No food shame. No pressure to become someone you're not.
Your First Steps, Made Simple
1. Book a free 15-minute call.
We'll talk about what's going on, what you're hoping for, and whether working together makes sense — no pressure, no obligation.
2. Get a plan built around your real life.
Your first full appointment (60 minutes) covers your health history, your daily routine, your family, and your culture — so the plan fits you, not a textbook.
3. Build sustainable habits, one plate at a time.
30-minute follow-up sessions keep you on track with realistic, judgment-free support — the kind that lasts.
Care Built Around Real Health Concerns
Blood Sugar & Diabetes Management
Steadier energy and smarter meals without giving up the foods you love.
Blood Pressure & Heart Health
Practical, flavor-first ways to manage sodium and support your heart.
Weight Management
Sustainable change, not another crash diet.
Digestive Health
Support for bloating, digestive discomfort, and food sensitivities (stool testing available at an additional cost).
Teen Nutrition (Ages 10-18)
Practical, judgment-free guidance for growing kids and their families.
Sports Nutrition
Fueling strategies for active clients and athletes.
Mental Wellness & Focus Support
Nutrition support alongside your broader care team.
Cultural Food Education
Group speaking engagements, in-person and virtual, on healthy cultural cooking.
Care Rooted in Real Experience
Willande Unelus, MA, RD, LDN, is a Haitian-born, Raleigh-Durham, NC-based Registered Dietitian seeing clients by telehealth. Her interest in nutrition grew personal when her own children experienced eczema and food allergies as babies — an experience that led her back to her traditional cooking and shaped how she sees food ever since. She understands how powerful cultural foods are, even when they're mistaken for "unhealthy" — and she brings that lived experience, not just training, into every session.
Start With a Free, No-Pressure First Step
The 7-Day Cultural Plate Reset Toolkit gives you a simple system — not a strict diet — to help you and your family build healthier plates using the foods you already love.
No. The goal is to keep the food familiar and improve the strategy around portions, pairings, timing, and preparation.
No. Most clients come in for help with blood sugar, blood pressure, or weight — it's also for people thinking about digestive health, sports performance, or everyday family meals.
No. The focus is realistic structure and sustainable habits, not rigid rules.
