Ms. Darrow-Menegaz, a registered dietitian and integrative & functional nutritionist, is the founding owner of Nutrition for Wellness™. Nutrition for Wellness™ programs feature protocols guided by evidence-based research. They are borne out of years of clinical, personal, and observational experience by Virginia Darrow-Menegaz MS, RD, LN. In addition to seeing clients one-on-one, Ms. Darrow-Menegaz has presented seminars and lectures for organizations such as The Baltimore Sun, The U.S. Military, American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Blue Cross Blue Shield, US Airways, Professional Practice Groups and several appearances on Baltimore WBAL-TV 11 Spotlight on Health, to name a few. Nutrition for Wellness’ signature programs impart powerful cutting edge resources that help individuals get to their healthiest state of strength, nourishment and being centered.
In addition to running Nutrition for Wellness,™ she is an adjunct professor of Integrative and Functional Nutrition at Maryland University of Integrative Health and a former adjunct instructor in Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University. Prior to founding Nutrition For Wellness™ in 1998, Ms. Darrow-Menegaz spent several years working in the acute-care setting (ranging from out-patient community wellness service to the ICU). In her earliest work with Nutrition and Wellness, Virginia was a wellness and fitness instructor and featured guest at fitness retreats, gourmet natural cooking school engagements, and other fitness and wellness centers.
She has been activity involved in the Health and Wellness field since the late 1970s, well before her formal training. Having been raised by parents that were followers of the pioneers of modern-day integrative medicine, Virginia’s focus has always been on integrative and functional nutrition in medicine as well as complimentary modalities. She is a former restaurant owner, triathlete, and fitness trainer.
When in her late teens she switched her undergraduate major mid-stream when she moved to Puerto Rico. There she worked in hotels, enjoyed scuba diving, ran, swam and surfed. She was always a cyclist but greatly improved her swimming and running and later began competing in biathlons and triathlons after moving back to New York. While she started her undergraduate studies in the sciences, having a love for food, health, sports, and travel, she earned a bachelors of science degree in Hotel and Restaurant
Administration with a minor in Business and Marketing. She worked in the hotel industry for several years and was fortunate to travel the world. Virginia then had the opportunity to be a working-partner in a start-up prototype for an Italian chain restaurant. She developed employee manuals, operational manuals and working recipes for the chain. After surviving a serious bout with ovarian cancer, Virginia earned a Master-of-Science degree in clinical nutrition from New York University (NYU).
She has advanced training in integrative and functional nutrition as medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine, Functional Medicine University, The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, The American Association of Nutritional Consultants, Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and Medicines from the Earth. To remain current in the field of integrative health, Virginia annually attends numerous continuing education seminars and symposiums (in nutrition, medicine, stress management, meditation, movement and exercise physiology, psychology, and coaching techniques).
In addition to her work for Nutrition For Wellness,™ and teaching, Virginia also is the founder and president of Nutrition Software Solutions, Inc.™, which developed an innovative mobile nutrition assessment software program for acute-care nutrition support healthcare professionals. Virginia continues to celebrate her passion for all things active – yoga, meditation, endurance-obstacle races, cross county/woods running, hiking, skiing, surfing, and getting together with family and friends to play music and sing. She lives in Maryland with her greatest treasures (along with her health), her husband and their two daughters.
