Barbara Ruhs

“I was a fat kid,” says Barbara Ruhs. “My sister was a French fry, and I was a beachball. I always wanted to be a French...

Photograph by Stu Rosner

“I was a fat kid,” says Barbara Ruhs. “My sister was a French fry, and I was a beachball. I always wanted to be a French fry.” In eighth grade, her body dramatically reshaped itself when she began riding her bicycle everywhere—delivering newspapers and pedaling five miles to school on Long Island—while playing volleyball, running track, and becoming the top tennis player on the school team.

In 1995, Ruhs graduated from Cornell, a varsity athlete in both tennis and crew. Today, she’s an upbeat, bona fide jock who rows, plays tennis, golfs, and bicycles year-round to work, where, as a clinical dietitian at the University Health Services, she is Harvard’s first sports nutritionist. Since 2003, Ruhs has advised varsity athletes, as many as 130 per semester. “A lot of my work is refereeing bad nutrition advice,” she says. “Like low-carb diets. That’s nutritional suicide for an athlete, who typically needs to consume a higher percentage of calories from carbohydrates.” Performance issues include the timing of meals—say, for a runner about to race; safe weight loss for lightweight rowers, coxswains, and football players; and hydration strategies—“An athlete can’t perform optimally if even 1 percent dehydrated.” Ruhs “fell in love with nutrition” at Cornell and earned a master’s degree in the field at Boston University. She spent four years as statewide coordinator for nutrition education in Massachusetts and then launched her own business, Neighborhood Nutrition, in 2001 to bring the message to the grass roots. “I’m not the food police,” she says; in fact, her 17-year-old cat is named for a candy bar: Chunky. “I’m practical,” Ruhs adds. “Sometimes even a nutritionist eats pizza at midnight!”

Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Harvard’s Class of 2029 Reflects Shifts in Racial Makeup After Affirmative Action Ends

International students continue to enroll amid political uncertainty; mandatory SATs lead to a drop in applications.

Explore More From Current Issue

Illustration of tiny doctors working inside a large nose against a turquoise background.

A Flu Vaccine That Actually Works

Next-gen vaccines delivered directly to the site of infection are far more effective than existing shots.

Six women interact in a theatrical setting, one seated and being comforted by others.

A (Truly) Naked Take on Second-Wave Feminism

Playwright Bess Wohl’s Liberation opens on Broadway.

Students in purple jackets seated on chairs, facing away in a grassy area.

A New Prescription for Youth Mental Health

Kenyan entrepreneur Tom Osborn ’20 reimagines care for a global crisis.