You’ve made the decision that you are ready to seek some support in improving your diet, and you’ve started the search for the person that is just right for you. The options that come up are a bit baffling…. nutritionist, nutritional therapist, dietician, health coach….. the list goes on. How do you tell the difference? Read on for a quick guide on what’s what.
First, let’s talk about Dieticians
Dieticians will often appear in the top search results and the interesting thing about these specialists is that in many cases, they aren’t necessarily your go-to for general help with your diet. Why? Because dieticians are the only nutritional specialists in the UK permitted to prescribe medication (think insulin, thyroid medicines etc) and to supervise patients with specific diets for serious medical conditions.
Dieticians therefore are often critical members of the medical team for patients within the NHS. What they do is a precious resource, and as such it is on offer to people only if they meet certain medical criteria. There are private dieticians and they offer vital services which provide other options for people in need of their expertise. But, for the majority of people seeking help to relieve symptoms aggravated by diet, or weight loss support, other nutrition specialists are often better to tap into.
Often people know roughly what they should be eating, but need personalised advice, coaching, or perhaps a greater understanding about what is preventing them from feeling better. There are plenty of different therapies and coaching programmes available for us to take ownership of our own health, but broadly speaking, what do they all do?
Nutritionists
At the time of writing this blog, anyone could legally call themselves a nutritionist. This may sound a little out there, but ‘nutritionist’ is currently not a protected or regulated title. So, the range of skills and training between nutritionists can be varied. However, nutritionists can have bachelors and masters degrees in nutrition which guarantee high levels of training. So don’t discount them yet!
Generally, nutritionists that have studied diplomas and degrees will look at health and nutrition through the eye of science-based-medicine. All their training will be based on what is scientifically proven, tried and tested. Any nutritional recommendations they make should therefore be based on what the best quality science available tells us is reliable and safe for clients.
Nutritionists work in a vast range of industries, ranging from health clinics and private practices to food production, technology, supplements, functional testing and more. You may have even spoken to one when you’ve made an enquiry about a product!
How do you know if a private nutritionist is adequately trained and has your best interests and safety as a priority? Be curious about what accreditations they have – are they registered with at least one? Are the organisations they are registered with credible and a true authority? How do their members stay accountable and do they have CPD (continued professional development) requirements and a strict code of conduct?
A Word About What Nutritionists Should Not Do….
Unless also having the appropriate medical qualifications, nutritionists are healthcare professionals, but they are not medical professionals. This means that they are not allowed to make claims that they can use nutrition to diagnose, treat or cure medical conditions. If you listen and read what they say carefully, you should hear talk of supporting health and promoting wellbeing. If anyone claims their methods can treat or cure an illness, they are providing misleading information and could offer advice that is unsafe or poorly researched. Avoid!
What Do Nutritional Therapists Do?
You might have come across nutritionists that you later discover are registered nutritional therapists. More people have heard of a nutritionist than a nutritional therapist, so it’s just a way of keeping things simple so you find what you’re looking for. Nutritional therapists must have studied as a minimum a diploma or degree, so they will have studied for at least three years, with many of their study requirements being at degree level.
Based on the concept that our bodies are designed to stay healthy with the right nutrition and environment, nutritional therapists help their clients to achieve optimal health. They enable people to support good health and prevent illness, instead of only reacting when we get ill. Nutritional therapists work alongside conventional medicine, rather than as an alternative. Whether you want to stay healthy or have a diagnosed medical condition, nutritional therapy can support you.
This is All Very Interesting, But Why Would Anyone Choose to Pay for Nutritional Therapy?
Often people only seek advice and support when pain and other symptoms become unbearable, or when the constraints of the health system leave them wanting to take proactive action and take back control of their health.
Certain life stages (think conception, pregnancy, menopause etc), health events or diagnoses can lead to someone wanting to eat more of the foods that help them to stay healthy and less of the foods that cause harm and aggravate symptoms. But one man’s (or woman) meat is another man’s poison – nutrition is highly individual. Genetics, upbringing, previous health, birth, childhood, life experiences and our environment can all leave us responding very differently to foods and having higher or lower requirements for different nutrients.
So, nutritional therapists provide a very tailored and personalised solution just for you. Investing in their expertise opens up the following to you as a client:
Meeting you where you are in your life, as a complex and unique individual, with compassion, care and non-judgement.
Assessing your health holistically, looking at all the parts of your body, emotional state and mind as interconnected and identifying underlying causes of symptoms.
While a doctor’s appointment is limited to a few minutes, you spend a great deal more time with a nutritional therapist. They will give you a very thorough comprehensive health assessment and delve deep into what could be underlying ill health.
Most nutritional therapists support you to make gradual manageable changes rather than strict rigid diets, helping you to create enjoyable healthy habits that stick.
Many provide meal plans, recipes or meal suggestions, with easy changes that fit in with busy family life.
Nutritional therapists can write letters on your behalf to take to your GP. This takes all the stress out of trying to explain to your doctor in a short few minutes the symptoms that need investigating. They also can advise on private tests, order the tests and interpret the results.
It’s Quite an Investment to See a Nutritional Therapist – Is it Really Worth it?
If you’ve ever looked up “how much does a nutritional therapist cost?” or “how much does a nutritionist cost?” and looked no further, you’re not alone! There are however a few things to consider about the value that a good nutritional therapy programme will add to your life so hang in there and find out more:
You only see the time that you are in the consultations and the time that you are in contact by email or phone but there’s so much more they do! Imagine your nutritional therapist as you would a good PA. Most of what they do is done behind the scenes. Before they’ve even seen you for your first appointment you can bet that they’ve already poured over your health questionnaire, done research that is highly specific to you, and possibly even picked the brains (not literally, ewwww!) of industry experts. Between appointments, they will spend more hours going over your case, more research, finding the best foods and supplements for you and leaving nothing to chance.
They can order tests for you that you cannot order without going through a practitioner. This may sound like an annoying barrier to getting those test results but for good reason. These private tests can provide information that you cannot get as standard with the NHS, and they can give you answers that you otherwise would never know about what is triggering unwelcome symptoms. But, if you’ve ever looked at one of the reports that comes back, it will look like a different language. Knowing what to do with those results is where your nutritional therapist can add value and give you answers. In most cases they will spend time speaking with the labs and test specialists getting very personalised advice for you.
Seeing a nutritional therapist can help you to completely transform your health and wellbeing. This transformation will last you a lifetime – it can help you to have better health as you age, allow you to stay more active, more engaged with life, enjoy time more with loved ones, it could even mean that you have more active years in a career that you enjoy. If you’ve ever had to take time off work for illness, you will know how important it is to stay fit and well, keep progressing in your career and have the health to enjoy your leisure time.
If you have kids, giving them a healthy foundation will set them up for success for life. It’s never too late to start instilling more healthy habits with your children!
Nutritional therapists also provide coaching – they are your accountability buddy, checking in with you, motivating you, helping you to break down those mental barriers to making those changes that stick.
How Do You Know Which Nutritional Therapist to Work With?
Look for a Registered Nutritional Therapist or a Registered Nutritionist with at least a diploma or degree in nutritional therapy, nutrition, nutrition science or similar. Most therapists will be registered with either BANT, CNHC or ANP. You can find qualified and accredited therapists at these sites, amongst others: Bant (British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine), Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council and the ANP (Association of Naturopathic Practitioners).
What About Health Coaches?
Health coaches have a particular skillset that works particularly well with certain health goals. If you have uncomplicated health issues and want someone to coach you to make diet and lifestyle changes that guarantee results, a health coach can be perfect. They have trained to use coaching skills to motivate, provide accountability and keep their clients on track, which for some people can be exactly what they need. They are not trained to investigate health issues or deal with complex conditions and illnesses in the same way that nutritional therapists are, which is why you would often choose one or the other depending on your own needs.
Want to find out more? Why not book a free 30-minute, no-obligation consultation.