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Tell her how you eat
Write on Instagram. Say what is on the table now, what a clinician asked you to change, and whether you want to speak in English or Arabic.
Nutrition that still tastes like home.
سمر شحيّد·Samar Chahayed
A bilingual dietitian in Metro Detroit. Samar teaches the way families actually eat — hummus, rice, olive oil, and the Sunday table — with simple science and no crash diets.
Fraser · Clinton Township · Madison Heights·English / العربية
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist · M.S. · RD · DTR
RD / RDN · DTR
Licensed nutrition credentials
M.S., Human Nutrition
Eastern Michigan University
Dietetic internship
Detroit Medical Center
English + Arabic
Families, not jargon
Who this is for
You already know how to cook. You want the science to meet you there.
Most nutrition plans are written for a kitchen that is not yours. Samar writes for the one you have.
You cook Middle Eastern food and are tired of plans built around grilled chicken and quinoa.
You want to be understood in Arabic or English — without being talked down to.
A clinician mentioned blood sugar, cholesterol, weight, or energy, and you cannot see how that maps onto rice, bread, and olive oil.
You are feeding children, parents, or both, from one pot.
You have tried cutting, skipping, and “being good.” It did not last. You want something you can live with.
This is not a fit if
- You want a 1,200-calorie crash, a detox, or a list of forbidden foods.
- You need specialty eating-disorder treatment — Samar will help you find that care.
- You are looking for a trainer, a supplement protocol, or a celebrity diet.
The Sufra method
Start with what is already on the table.
Sufra is the spread — the gathering, the plates that arrive together. Samar’s method keeps the foods that carry home, then teaches the quiet adjustments that actually change how you feel.
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A first conversation
Not a lecture. A precise look at meals, rhythm, labs if you have them, and the family you cook for.
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A plan in your kitchen
Swaps, portions, and timing that use hummus, rice, yogurt, olive oil, and the grocery stores you already visit in Metro Detroit.
Work with her
Four ways to sit at the table.
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One-to-one counseling
Private nutrition sessions in English or Arabic. Built around your meals, your labs, and your week — not a template.
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The family kitchen
One household, many plates. Help for the person who cooks for children, parents, and guests without running two menus.
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Blood sugar, without banning bread
Practical support when glucose, cholesterol, or blood pressure has entered the conversation — without exiling rice, pita, or fruit.
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Kitchen notes
Free teaching: myth-busting, Levantine plates, and the science behind everyday food. The same voice as her Instagram, written to last.
About
Damascus flavors. Michigan practice.
Samar Chahayed grew up with a Damascene kitchen in her bones and trained as a dietitian in Michigan — a master’s in human nutrition at Eastern Michigan University, a dietetic internship at Detroit Medical Center, and credentials as an RD/RDN and DTR. She practices in the gap most plans ignore: the Arab table in Metro Detroit.
Read her storyKitchen notes
What she is teaching on Instagram.
Editorial photos stand in for the posts. Open a card to read her original caption — za'atar rolls, date cookie dough, and why tea and yogurt can get in the way of iron.
From her kitchen
Za'atar rolls
She calls them the savory cousin of cinnamon rolls: soft, fluffy dough with za'atar, meant to sit beside labneh, cheese, and tea. A Middle Eastern breakfast that does not need a new grocery list.
Gluten-free · dairy-free · egg-free
Date cookie dough
Oats, almond flour, tahini, and date paste, filled with dark chocolate. A treat built from the pantry she actually cooks with — not a diet-food imitation.
Myth, then fact
Tea, yogurt, and iron
Calcium and the tannins in tea can block iron. Vitamin C helps the body absorb it. Her rule of thumb: enjoy tea about two hours after the meal, not with it.
Connect
The door is an Instagram message.
Samar meets new families the way the community already talks — in a DM, in English or Arabic. Say what you cook, what you were told to change, and what you will not give up.