Cover Lee Zhi Ling (Photo: Lee Zhi Ling)
Lee Zhi Ling (Photo: Lee Zhi Ling)
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Lee Zhi Ling built her social media following with honest and encouraging advice
“Add, not restrict” is just one of the quips that nutritionist Lee Zhi Ling is known for. With nearly 200k followers on Instagram, Lee is loved for her quick and easy grocery and cooking tips and her honest and approachable advice when it comes to eating healthy, especially in Asia.
Encouraging her followers to cook more often and try new food, her videos encourage incorporating healthy practices into one’s day-to-day life, such as bringing vegetables to the office to add to takeaway meals, which helps to manage blood sugar. In an effort to showcase whole grains like rolled oats, one of her videos even introduces the concept of stir-fried rolled oats in an “oat fried rice” which she cooks up with her partner, chef Aaron Khor of Fifty Tales.
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Above Lee Zhi Ling (Photo: Fady Younis)
Lee Zhi Ling (Photo: Fady Younis)
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“Malaysian food is full of variety, which gives us a lot of room to make healthy eating choices and modifications,” enthuses the nutritionist. “However, many of us don’t use this abundance wisely, which results in negative health implications.” Growing up, Lee’s family was quite health conscious, and nutrition’s effect on bodily health always piqued her interest, which led her to study nutrition as a profession.
“Nutrition is built to keep us alive as long as possible, with a well-functioning body, so we can continue to achieve great things in our lives,” Lee smiles. “But of course, these positive effects of nutrition are only made possible when managing our physical activities, stress, sleep, and mental health.” For instance, she shares that poor sleep disrupts the hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, which lead to increased appetite and cravings, contributing to weight gain and metabolic issues.
See also: How to spend 48 hours in Kuala Lumpur
As much as she advocates for healthy eating, she also believes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to health. “Health is not only about food intake–it is also about economic stability, healthcare affordability, health literacy, clean air, safe drinking water, neighbourhood safety, transportation accessibility, public policies, cultural norms, and societal expectations,” she lists.
Above Zhi Ling hosting a skipping workshop (Photo: Lee Zhi Ling)
Zhi Ling hosting a skipping workshop (Photo: Lee Zhi Ling)
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Recognising that so many factors contribute to one’s ability to nourish one’s body, Lee plays an important role in making her audience feel recognised, encouraging them to incorporate healthy practices within their means, one step at a time.
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About
Katelyn is the dining and travel editor of Malaysia and Indonesia. Based in Kuala Lumpur, she offers readers an inside look at the movers and shakers in Asia’s growing food and beverage industry.
