ProfessorCaryn Zinn

I am a Professor at AUT's School of Sport, Exercise and Health. My research focuses on therapeutic carbohydrate reduction and metabolic health, sports performance nutrition, food quality, and digital health, including the development of CHIPS, an AI-powered, image-based dietary assessment app that classifies food quality and supports behaviour change in real-world settings.

I graduated as a dietitian in Cape Town, South Africa, before relocating to New Zealand, where I worked as a Public Health Dietitian prior to joining AUT in 2000. I completed my Masters (2004) and PhD (2012) at AUT and have since built my research career there. I am also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Metabolic Health.

I am a New Zealand Registered Dietitian with over 25 years of clinical practice experience, directing a clinic specialising in whole food nutrition and lifestyle management for metabolic health conditions. My clinical specialty is the application of therapeutic carbohydrate reduction for conditions characterised by insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular risk, as well as in sports performance nutrition.