Hello all,
I had another topic for my blog this week, but I have been sidetracked with a number of discussions from curious clients, patients, coworkers, and friends about how to tell the difference between all the nutrition information out there and who to trust. This is a very tricky task, especially to the "untrained" eye of the public consumer just looking for a few helpful tricks to lose weight or feel healthier. Here are a few things to watch out for and consider.
First of all, there are 3 types of professionals in the field of nutrition. The most highly trained and well versed are Registered Dietitians, who must complete a Bachelors degree at an accredited university (found here), then complete a 1200 hour internship in the areas of food service management, community nutrition, and clinical nutrition. After that they much pass a national registration exam and maintain accreditation by completing 75 hour of continuing education every 5 years. There are additional state requirements as well, which are different in every state (certification vs licensure). RD's are also ethically bound to provide only science-based information supported by a body of evidence (not just one article) in peer-reviewed journals.
The next most qualified are those practitioners who have completed a degree in the field of nutrition (or hopefully something similar), but either wasn't in an accredited program or chose not to complete an internship and seek registration. These individuals can typically still provide you with good information, but you have to be careful about where it's coming from since these providers are not ethically bound to provide information that is science-based.
The final type of professional in the field of nutrition are what I like to refer to as those who attended the "school of google" or people who are able to provide nutrition advice based on media interpretations of articles, sensationalism, and often your fears and doubts. Many of these practitioners will provide wild and seemingly novel new supplements or treatments to make you feel like you're receiving the most "cutting edge" technology. These are some examples on Applied Kinesiology, or muscle testing for nutrient deficiency, and electrodermal testing (sometimes referred to as "bioenergetics", which is actually a real biochemistry term that has been borrowed to make the process sound more legit). Now I don't want to start a war here, but many of the practitioners in this category have been chiropractors. That's not to say that ALL chiropractors are in this category, but in my research and general experience, many of them fit.
Here is an excellent blogpost by the University of Colorado Extension on the misinformation of nutrition in our world today and tips for who to trust and who to watch out for.
It can be very difficult to determine what to believe in a world inundated with so much information available at the tip of our fingers, but remaining skeptical about where that information is coming from can make the biggest difference in meeting your goals- no matter what those are.
I had another topic for my blog this week, but I have been sidetracked with a number of discussions from curious clients, patients, coworkers, and friends about how to tell the difference between all the nutrition information out there and who to trust. This is a very tricky task, especially to the "untrained" eye of the public consumer just looking for a few helpful tricks to lose weight or feel healthier. Here are a few things to watch out for and consider.
First of all, there are 3 types of professionals in the field of nutrition. The most highly trained and well versed are Registered Dietitians, who must complete a Bachelors degree at an accredited university (found here), then complete a 1200 hour internship in the areas of food service management, community nutrition, and clinical nutrition. After that they much pass a national registration exam and maintain accreditation by completing 75 hour of continuing education every 5 years. There are additional state requirements as well, which are different in every state (certification vs licensure). RD's are also ethically bound to provide only science-based information supported by a body of evidence (not just one article) in peer-reviewed journals.
The next most qualified are those practitioners who have completed a degree in the field of nutrition (or hopefully something similar), but either wasn't in an accredited program or chose not to complete an internship and seek registration. These individuals can typically still provide you with good information, but you have to be careful about where it's coming from since these providers are not ethically bound to provide information that is science-based.
The final type of professional in the field of nutrition are what I like to refer to as those who attended the "school of google" or people who are able to provide nutrition advice based on media interpretations of articles, sensationalism, and often your fears and doubts. Many of these practitioners will provide wild and seemingly novel new supplements or treatments to make you feel like you're receiving the most "cutting edge" technology. These are some examples on Applied Kinesiology, or muscle testing for nutrient deficiency, and electrodermal testing (sometimes referred to as "bioenergetics", which is actually a real biochemistry term that has been borrowed to make the process sound more legit). Now I don't want to start a war here, but many of the practitioners in this category have been chiropractors. That's not to say that ALL chiropractors are in this category, but in my research and general experience, many of them fit.
Here is an excellent blogpost by the University of Colorado Extension on the misinformation of nutrition in our world today and tips for who to trust and who to watch out for.
It can be very difficult to determine what to believe in a world inundated with so much information available at the tip of our fingers, but remaining skeptical about where that information is coming from can make the biggest difference in meeting your goals- no matter what those are.
Comments
Post a Comment