Ruth Spirakis, MS RD, CDE, CNSE

A Practical Approach To Nutrition,
I considered my appointment with Ruth Spirakis, a Registered Dietician, with a mix of interest and fear. Interest because I wanted to learn how to dial down my slowly rising A1C reading which indicated borderline diabetes and fear due to possible restrictions on my diet. The result of this meeting was not too shabby. I got a lot of information and discovered my list of foods was aiming at the right target, though I needed to cut down on the amount of carbohydrates (don’t we all?)
Ms Spirakis was recommended by my wife who went through the same process a few years ago. Two of our doctors spoke highly of Ruth and she was conveniently located near Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose near the northern end of Los Gatos. Recently (in 2010), Ruth joined the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and moved her office to one of PAMF’s main buildings on El Camino Real across from Stanford University. She also sees patients on Tuesday in PAMF’s facility at 3200 Kearney Street in Fremont (a few blocks from Lake Elizabeth).
Since I work in downtown San Jose, my wife and I decided to visit Ms Spirakis in Fremont. Driving there around 2 PM took 25 minutes, though the drive back at 345 PM took 40 minutes. PAMF has 2 new buildings in Fremont and she’s on the 2^nd floor in number one. There were plenty of reception/​administrative people to answer questions and the system to process patients was well organized.
Since Ms Spirakis only works in Fremont on Tuesdays, her office is kind of stuck in the middle of a very large OBGYN Department. My wife and I shared space in the comfortable waiting area with some very pregnant women (and a few of their husbands). Ruth came out to get us herself instead of sending an assistant.
Our meeting lasted about an hour. Ruth asked a series of questions to learn about my situation and most of the time we exchanged information. She seemed thorough, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. Her advice was geared toward practical solutions for an issue facing many people… how to minimize the risk of getting diabetes when schedules for eating, working and sleeping are becoming more strained by the day. There wasn’t any groundbreaking news or unusual insights, but I really didn’t expect that.
Ms Spirakis provided several concrete examples of how small changes can have a major impact using calculators on various public websites. However, I got the feeling she had additional resources available in her full-​fledged Nutrition Department in Palo Alto. In Fremont, she’s actually renting the space once a week.
Overall, my wife and I found the time spent to be worthwhile if for no other reason than it helps to get common sense advice from a professional who specializes in your problem area.
By the way, Ruth provides assistance to all sorts of people with issues related to nutrition… not just diabetes.
Pros: An educated, experienced nutritionist with a down-​to-​earth approach
Cons: None
Star Ratings:
— Overall: 5
— Information: 4
— Understanding: 5
— Practical: 5
— Personality: 5
— Atmosphere: 4
— Convenience: 4