Our Mission

Single Ingredient Groceries is dedicated to helping people find groceries that help them safely enjoy as many foods as possible.  We do this by focusing on the needs of people with food allergies, food sensitivities and other food intolerances. 

Our Approach

We help you figure out which foods fit in your INDIVIDUAL diet, which groceries will make your life easier, and how to make grocery shopping less stressful.  We do this by focusing on grocery items that contain only a single ingredient. 

Meet Lisa Hugh, Our Founder

Hi, I’m Dr. Lisa Hugh. 

After working in diverse clinical settings including doctors offices, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted livings, and hospices, I now work full time in my private practice where I specialize in working with patients who have complex medical conditions and challenging diets.

This experience has taught me that that nutrition is never one-size-fits-all and that nutrition care can help just about everyone feel better and improve their health. So many of my patients come to me frustrated, tired and hungry. They want to eat well but all they hear is “no, no, no.” No, that food is bad for you. No, you can’t eat that. 

As a Certified Leap Therapist (Food Sensitivity Expert), I take the opposite approach. What do you like? What can you eat? Let’s build on that.

In my work as a Registered Dietitian, I love helping people find foods that really work for them. We all like different things and we all have different physical structures. There is no one size fits all diet that works for everybody, let alone when people have food allergies, food sensitivities, or other food intolerances.

How We Started 

On a personal note, the idea for Single Ingredient Groceries came to me while shopping for my little son who was being treated for food sensitivities.

He was three years old and suffering from hives, itching, and all types of skin rashes. It was a really challenging time. He was uncomfortable all the time.

And I had to spend so much time going from grocery store to specialty store trying to find the foods he could eat. It was costly, tiring, and time-consuming. I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it just be easier to order everything I need online? And why can’t I find more information on specific ingredients, and how to use them?”

At the same time, I was treating more and more patients who had different types of dietary restrictions. Some of these were due to allergies and sensitivities and some were due to their medical conditions.

These patients were so motivated to eat well and to use healthy lifestyle changes to get better. But they were so frustrated. They felt like they couldn’t eat anything and were facing a losing battle. Seeing this feeling of restriction was heartbreaking. 

Thankfully, my mentor pointed out to me that combining nutrition therapy with single ingredient foods actually helps patients expand their diets and have many more food choices. This helps them enjoy food and be safer and healthier. 

Voila, in that conversation Single Ingredient Groceries was born. Since then, our team has grown, and our services have expanded. 

A Little Bit of Clarification

There are lots of ways to define diets and ways of eating.

At Single Ingredient Groceries the words “diet” and “special diet” will be used to mean any style of eating where specific ingredients are critical for health, comfort, wellness, success, safety, and symptom control. This includes any diet that is “free from” specific ingredients such as Corn Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free and Nut Free diets.

Most groceries that we feature contain only a SINGLE INGREDIENT with no preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial colors, flavor enhancers or a combination of ingredients. Some products may also include salt. So, while these don’t technically contain ONE ingredient, they are still included because salt is generally non-reactive for those with food allergies and sensitivities.

We sometimes feature interesting ingredients that are difficult to purchase as a single ingredient. We do this because these ingredients might be really helpful to people and because the concept of single ingredient groceries is to help people have MORE food choices, not LESS food choices. We believe in tools and strategies, not unnecessary restrictions.