Susie Burrell
Susie Burrell focuses on translating nutrition science into clear, practical advice on everyday food choices and long‑term health. She writes health and lifestyle pieces for The Sydney Morning Herald that help readers understand how specific products, pantry staples and eating habits affect weight, energy and wellbeing.
Food products and supermarket choices
Much of Burrell’s recent work examines branded and generic supermarket foods so readers can make informed choices at the shelf. In “Butter, marg or in between? A dietitian’s guide to choosing the best supermarket spread” she breaks down the differences between butter, margarine and blended spreads, using fat type, processing and health impact as her organising frame rather than marketing claims. She takes a similar approach with convenience foods, as in “Dietitian Susie Burrell peels back the tin lid on the healthiest and best value convenience foods to have on hand at all times,” where she ranks canned options by nutritional value and cost, and highlights how they can be used to build balanced meals on busy days. Her Good Food piece “Susie Burrell explains the best foods to eat – and avoid – to help ensure a long and healthier midlife and beyond” extends this product‑focused lens to midlife nutrition, detailing which staples support metabolic health and which commonly promoted items undermine it. Across these articles she consistently combines label reading, nutrient composition and portion guidance so readers can act on the advice immediately in a supermarket context.
Nutrition, health behaviours and midlife wellbeing
Burrell’s coverage links specific foods to broader health behaviours, with a strong emphasis on midlife and women’s health. In her midlife Good Food work she addresses how changing hormones, metabolic risk and lifestyle pressures interact, and which eating patterns are most protective over the long term. Her public work outside the masthead reinforces this focus: she hosts the “Diet Notes with Susie Burrell” podcast, which introduces a four‑week “Peri Reset” nutrition guide designed for women navigating perimenopause, menopause and beyond, and uses episodes to explain how tailored food choices can moderate symptoms and support energy. On social platforms she runs a group on hormone balance and nutrition for women over 40, sharing tips and strategies that mirror the themes in her published articles, including blood sugar control, managing appetite and prioritising protein and fibre at midlife. This combination of masthead columns, audio and community content shows a consistent through‑line: she frames nutrition as a tool for maintaining metabolic health and functional wellbeing through and beyond the 40s, not just for short‑term weight loss.
Sleep, energy and daily functioning
Burrell also connects diet to sleep and day‑to‑day functioning. A Sleep Centres of Australia blog cites her as the author of a lifestyle article for The Sydney Morning Herald that examined the relationship between sleep quality and health behaviours, and describes her as a dietitian and nutritionist contributing to a broader discussion of sleep and wellbeing. In broadcast and audio work she has discussed how staple foods such as rice affect blood glucose, energy levels and risk of metabolic disease, explaining how factors like grain type and preparation change their impact on the body. Her commentary underscores the idea that everyday carbohydrate choices, portion sizes and timing have direct consequences for sleep quality, fatigue and long‑term health, and she brings this lens back into her writing when she advises on practical meal construction and snack selection.
Broader nutrition communication and formats
Beyond her Herald columns, Burrell maintains a substantial presence as a practising dietitian and health communicator. Her own site introduces her as one of Australia’s leading dietitians and hosts tools, e‑books and programs focused on midlife health, metabolic balance and sustainable eating patterns. She writes regularly for health and wellbeing platforms, including serving as a health and wellbeing blogger who covers topics such as hunger cues, portion control and building balanced meals over the week. Speaker and professional profiles describe a long‑running role in broadcast media providing nutrition advice on breakfast television and frequent contributions to consumer magazines focused on women’s fitness and lifestyle. Across these formats she keeps the tone direct and prescriptive, favouring simple rules, staple food lists and concrete meal suggestions over abstract discussion, and aligning her media work with the same themes found in her Herald coverage: everyday food decisions, metabolic health, midlife wellbeing and practical strategies that can be implemented immediately.
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