Nutritionist vs Dietitian

To get this blog rolling, I thought I'd start with a topic I'm passionate about: nutrition. Specifically, I'm going to talk about a caveat to watch for before making any changes to your diet.

Lately, "holistic healing" has been in the news a lot, with many different ideas on what a healthy lifestyle entails (juicing! alkaline water! raw vegan!). Notably, many of these are put forth & supported by impressive sounding certified professional nutritionists - so they must know what they're talking about, right?

Actually, maybe not. Here's what you should know:

Nutritionist vs. Dietitian

or

Certified Nutritional Practioner (CNP) vs. Registered Dietitian (RD)

Let's say you're trying to lose weight, or need to change your diet for a specific reason (allergies, intolerances, high blood pressure, migraines, etc), and want professional advice. Who do you turn to? A nutritionist or a dietitian?

I think the best way to compare the two is by looking at the schooling & experience you need in order to obtain these qualifications:

To become a Registered Dietitian (RD), you must:

1. Earn your bachelor's degree from a University that is accredited by the Dietitians of Canada (DC) or the American Dietetic Association (ADA)
2. Apply for a post-degree internship or Masters practicum, completing a minimum number of hours (1200 in the US) under the supervision of a RD
3. Write & pass an examination offered by the DC or ADA

Only then can you call yourself a dietitian. However, similar to other health practitioner (like doctors, nurses, dentists, etc), you cannot practice unless you register with the ADA or the provincial regulatory body for the Canadian province in which you want to practice. This registration must then be renewed yearly in order to continue your practice.

All in all, pretty rigorous, as any health profession should be.

So what about becoming a nutritionist?

Nutritionists are NOT regulated by any agency. Anyone can take a nutrition program at some obscure college & declare themselves "certified" - indeed, "institutes" or "councils" are often affiliated with the program or school directly in order to confer certificates on their students upon graduation. Naturally, these programs are organized & taught by certified nutritionists, resulting in a curriculum that may not necessarily meet the proper standards.

This means that despite all those letters after a nutritionists name (CNP, RNCP, ANP), they may not be as qualified as they seem. Certainly they are not as well trained as a RD. Before you spend any money on an assessment, ensure that the professional you're seeing is indeed a registered professional. Always be skeptical of professionals propounding the next miracle-cure-vitamin-antioxidant-you-really-need-to-know-about-but-your-doctor-isn't-telling-you!!! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true. In fact, take all "preventatives" with a grain of salt; remember the placebo effect: a tablespoon of sugar water is a great cure for many ailments.

(NB: I'm not saying all nutritionists are quacks - I'm sure there are some good ones out there. Just do your research before spending your money!)