199: Lower Scores Straight Out of Mom’s Kitchen | Matt Zembruski (JutiBar) and Cynthia Sass

Today I am especially excited to bring on our very special guests, Matt Zembruski (founder of the JutiBar) and sports nutritionist, Cynthia Sass.

Have you ever found yourself rushing to the course for an early morning tee time and forgot to eat breakfast? Or in the middle of a round of golf noticed you were running a little low on energy and knew you needed to eat something? It’s happened to all of us, but in that situation, what are your typical options?

If you’re lucky, the course might have a few things for you to grab at the turn, but even then, your options are pretty limited. Let’s face it, as much as we are starting to see fitness creep into the game, golf courses haven’t quite adopted the same mentality when it comes to stocking the shelves with some decent options. Our guests today are here to help us understand why the food you eat before and during your round really should be a priority.

Matt Zembruski is the founder and owner of Juti Organics, maker of the JutiBar, which has been described as one of the cleanest, most nutritious all-natural energy bars in the world. Matt’s story of the JutiBar actually started out as a homemade snack that his mom packed for him to take to the golf course. Over the years, Matt and his advisory team of nutritionists and athletes have gone to great lengths to make sure they have the finest, cleanest ingredients in the world.

Matt has teamed up with rockstars like our other guest, Cynthia Sass, world-renowned sports nutritionist with a resume that includes working with professional teams like the New York Yankees, New York Rangers, as well as professional golfers, and even Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy winning celebrities. Cynthia is also a 3-time New York Times Bestselling author and has been on just about every major morning TV show you can think of, including Dr. Oz and the Today Show.

Cynthia joins us to make some sense of this whole nutrition thing and give some simple and reliable advice on how to make decisions that will have the greatest impact on your game.

Matt and Cynthia and JutiBar’s Background

Matt Zembruski
  • Matt Zembruski is the company founder and creator of the Juti Bar. His background is in engineering and project management, but his true passions lie in the worlds of nutrition and fitness.
  • Beginning in the summer of 2003 when he first experienced his mom’s baked energy bars, Matt quickly adopted them as his favorite breakfast food. And after several years of continually improving the recipe and eating a Juti Bar for breakfast just about every day, he wanted to share them with the world so others could also have the opportunity to experience this amazing on-the-go energizer.
  • Matt spent years sharing these early versions of the Juti Bar with friends, family, nutritionists, athletes, and other busy health conscious individuals. He listened to their feedback, connected with health experts across the country, and upgraded the recipe and the quality of the ingredients…again and again and again. Matt didn’t rest until the Juti Bar was fully organic, gluten-free and vegan – with the highest quality ingredients that can be found around the world.
  • Matt believes the Juti Bar can make it easier for you to make healthier choices, so you can feel great and have lots of natural energy throughout your day. Many years have gone by since his mom first introduced him to the super healthy food that changed his life. And in the years to come Matt hopes that the Juti Bar will make a tasty and nutritious impact in your life and your health as well.
Cynthia Sass
  • Cynthia Sass is a nationally known nutrition and health expert, based in New York City and Los Angeles. She’s one of the few registered dietitians who has consistently worked in nearly every aspect of nutrition communications – as an on-staff magazine editor, writer, columnist, blogger, New York Times best-selling author, speaker, spokesperson, contributor to a national news network, regular national TV guest, and practitioner.
  • Cynthia graduated with highest honors from Syracuse University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in nutrition/dietetics (B.S.) and a master’s degree in nutrition science with a concentration in counseling (M.A.). She completed a second master’s degree in public health (M.P.H.) with a concentration in community and family health education at the University of South Florida, one of only 40 nationally accredited colleges of public health in the country.
  • For years, Cynthia has been a go-to resource for the media. She has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show & CBS This Morning, The Rachael Ray Show, The Biggest Loser, The Doctors, The Dr. Oz Show, The Meredith Vieira Show, The Martha Stewart Show, The Revolution, The Nate Berkus Show, Nightline, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood Live, MSNBC, Fox News Live and others, as well as local television news programs in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Tampa, Seattle, Miami, Cleveland, San Diego, Nashville and Austin. For over eight months, before its cancellation, Cynthia was a weekly guest on the nationally syndicated Morning Show with Mike & Juliet. She was also an ABC News contributor in New York from 2009-2011, until she began splitting her time between New York City and Los Angeles.
  • Cynthia is a registered dietitian (R.D.), and is Board Certified as a Specialist in Sports Dietetics (C.S.S.D.) by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND, formerly the American Dietetic Association). She also completed a personal training certification at the well known Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas, Texas, and formal culinary training at the Institute for Culinary Awakening in Portland, Oregon.
  • Cynthia has worked for medical centers, universities, and fitness/wellness centers in New York, California, Florida, and Texas. She is president of Sass Consulting Services, Inc., which provides food and nutrition, wellness and communications services to corporations, organizations, individuals, athletes, teams, and media outlets. Her many clients have included the New York Yankees, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, Health magazine, Shape magazine, Health Fitness Corporation, Wild Oats Markets (now Whole Foods Market) and Safeway. Cynthia’s areas of professional expertise include: sports nutrition; nutrition for fitness, wellness, disease prevention and optimal health; plant-based nutrition; natural and organic eating, disordered eating; consumer education; solving couple and family food conflicts; and sane, sustainable weight management.

Highlights from this Episode

  • Matt talks about the start of the Juti bar (which happens to be on a golf course,) while Cynthia talks about her background in athlete nutrition as a sports dietician and what makes the Juti bar unique to other energy bars. They also talk on how they began working together and the symbiosis of their work.
  • We talk about the shifting mindset of marrying the nutrition and fitness mentalities and how Matt see’s this shift in both the amateur and professional realms. Even the tiny tweaks that athletes make in their diet can be that 1% that gives them the competitive edge in competitions.
  • Cynthia gives her thoughts on what pieces of our diet we should focus on putting in, like lean proteins and helpful fats, as well as which pieces we should take out. She also goes into depth on the ratios of nutrients are ideal for certain athletes.
  • Matt talks on the steps that they had to go through to evolve his mom’s recipe into this whole food energy bar that is 100% organic, as well as make it last without adding preservatives through shipping it fast or shipping it frozen. Aside from how great the Juti bar is as a super food, Cynthia chimes in to talk on what other foods are also good substitutes to the typical golf course food when you are hitting the links.
Parting Questions:

Caddy Shack or Happy Gilmore?

Cynthia: Caddy Shack

Matt: Caddy Shack

What would be your walk up song?

Cynthia: Under Pressure by Davide Bowie and Queen

Matt: Photograph by Def Leppard

If you could play 18 holes with anyone, who would it be and where would you play?

Cynthia: David Bowie in Hawaii

Matt: With my dad and Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach

What is your parting advice to the 18 Strong Community?

Cynthia: If you prioritize eating how you want to feel, you’ll find yourself making choices that are both convenient and healthful

Matt: Make one small change that you can commit to for a short time and see what happens.

Get 3 FREE Jutibars!

As I mentioned, Matt wanted to make sure you had a chance to try out the JutiBar, so he put together an amazing deal just for you.

Go to 18STRONG.com/juti .  When you buy 3 Jutibars, you will get another 3 Jutibars for free!  That’s 50% off of your first order!  Hurry up, though, because we don’t know how long this offer will last.

Find out more and follow Matt Zembruski and JutiBar on:

** If you are a Fitness professional, Golf Pro, or Medical professional and are interested in working with Juti Organics, send Matt Zembruski an email at [email protected] with the subject line “18STRONG”

Find out more and follow Cynthia Sass at:

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