Consulting a nutritionist -- when, why, how?

Lots of talk about nutritionists on this forum has made me curious. Why did you visit a nutritionist? How did you choose one? What credentials should they have (I can look up licensing requirements, if there are such, in my state, but of course I want to go beyond that)?

I don't have a specific problem to solve and I eat a very good diet, I think. My two questions are as follows. First, does being more active than average change my nutritional needs? I'm not an athlete and I don't go fast, but my cycling is consistent and mileage is increasing (probably 2,000 miles a year now). I also cycle in winter which feels like a strain on the body -- I don't know if it really is.

Second, how does aging change nutritional needs (if it does, and I wonder if this has even been studied in healthy people)?

Another issue -- I don't eat meat and want to give up eating fish, so I'd need someone who is knowledgeable about and supportive of a vegetarian diet.

I'm also very skeptical of fads/trends -- and if you don't understand this, wait until you are older. Everything you ever learned will have reversed itself a couple of times.

Any hints, tips, pitfalls, caveats, complaints, or success stories would be welcome.

If I had a significant health problem, I would tend to choose a registered dietician. These are the folks that hospitals tend to hire to deal with a whole host of dietary needs.

They also tend to be exposed to scientific information in their profession and would at least be able to begin to nominally interpret some of the information for a layperson. I worked in a hospital library for professional staff, so I saw all sorts of info.

I suspect the Olympic teams hire a registered dietician to meet their team members' needs.

Yes, most physicians don't know anything about diet, they don't need to study it. Dietitians on the other hand...

I have a friend who is a dietitian and she is a veritable font of knowledge...

ps there are healthy vegetarians in India who have not eaten meat for many generations. You can be a vegetarian and be healthy you just need to know how to eat. A good dietitian knows this stuff.


just corrected all my misspelled DIETITIANS

Hey, Pam, oddly enough I have just done this. I just could not quite figure out how to fuel my triathlon training AND lose some of the weight I regained when I got injured this fall. The person I saw is the sports dietitian for the entire University of Washington Athletic Department (all the various teams), so I knew she would instantly understand what I needed, which she did. SO....check out your area universities and see what they can tell you re referrals to dietitians who understand sports needs.

I haven't yet, but I know who I'm going to see, and it's the sports nutritionist for The Ohio State University. I expect if OSU and UW make their sports nutritionists available to the public, other schools do too.

OSU's sports nutritionist is a PhD besides being a RD. I think this is one of those areas where experience counts as much as education (and that's why being in charge of nutrition for a multi-million-dollar athletic program is meaningful to me), but I do tend to put some stock by that PhD, especially since I've had much better experiences with psychologists than with Masters level counselors (no offense whatever to Crankin or any other counselors - just my experience).

No offense taken... I find it depends on where and when people (in all medical fields) get their training.

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Originally Posted by PamNY

Second, how does aging change nutritional needs (if it does, and I wonder if this has even been studied in healthy people)?

Another issue -- I don't eat meat and want to give up eating fish, so I'd need someone who is knowledgeable about and supportive of a vegetarian diet.

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The registered dietician would have a R.D. designation behind their name professionally. I would wonder about the term "nutritionist".

Yes, I think there is a growing body on nutritional needs for aging folks. For frail, much older folks (than us), it would be falling into geriatric medicine.

I also worked in a library specializing in geriatric medicine and gerontology (sociology of aging).

According to my PC doctor, anyone over 50 is considered geriatric. There are plenty of people on this board, myself included, who fall into that category.

Menopause is the last quantum physiological change of human life. Everything else is gradual.

I'm going to take an alternative view here, because that's the world I live in.

I studied "traditional" nutrition at Ohio State University, but pursued Holistic Nutrition later in life. The RD path was not my thing - this field relies on the Food Pyramid (funded by special agriculture interests), thinks weight loss is about calories in vs. calories out (instead of viewing the body as a chemistry lab, which more effectively gets to the root of weight loss with genetics, food sensitivities, thyroid disorders, menopause, sleep and stress issues), and thinks Crestor is the solution to high cholesterol.

RDs study science, true. But they rely on studies that are largely funded by special interests like big pharma.

Before ruling out "Nutritionists," be sure to give them the same consideration as you might other alternative practitioners, like chiropractors, naturopaths, acupunturists, or those who use the ancient traditions of Oriental medicine for healing.

We have all had phenomenal success with our clients and patients using foods, bodywork, and natural remedies that have been around since humans first appeared on this planet!

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According to my PC doctor, anyone over 50 is considered geriatric. There are plenty of people on this board, myself included, who fall into that category.

Menopause is the last quantum physiological change of human life. Everything else is gradual.

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Wow, is being geriatric, a condition for women, because most likely they are embarking on perimenpause or menopause?? Wow, Oakleaf I never considered before, menopause as seen in that last quantum leap. Sounds impressive. :rolleyes: True, it is a quantum leap into physiological freedom for women. Well, you know... :o Hope most women view it that way. I sure look forward to it. My menses came back after 5 months.

Can't explain that one since I took no medication and no change in diet.

Miriam, I think there are true and tried ways to healthier eating and diet combined with exercise that have proven themselves well over the centuries. I guess on the Chinese traditional diet and medicine side, there is some great stuff which I have some family members as living examples of this type of diet. I actually did not learn about the balance of meat and with veggies, fruit from the Canadian food recommended guidelines. It's just simply expected in traditional Chinese meals to have a balance of meat (if you want it), veggies and with a carb --rice or noodle. Every day. So I learned from mother, not from school at all, the healthy way of eating.

Some of the Chinese food medicine diet philosophies, ying-yang stuff, my mother only paid 20% attention to it. And some of the Chinese medicines are harmless placebos or may have some effect. While other stuff is...just quackery.

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Originally Posted by MiriamZ

I'm going to take an alternative view here, because that's the world I live in.

I studied "traditional" nutrition at Ohio State University, but pursued Holistic Nutrition later in life. The RD path was not my thing - this field relies on the Food Pyramid (funded by special agriculture interests), thinks weight loss is about calories in vs. calories out (instead of viewing the body as a chemistry lab, which more effectively gets to the root of weight loss with genetics, food sensitivities, thyroid disorders, menopause, sleep and stress issues), and thinks Crestor is the solution to high cholesterol.

RDs study science, true. But they rely on studies that are largely funded by special interests like big pharma.

Before ruling out "Nutritionists," be sure to give them the same consideration as you might other alternative practitioners, like chiropractors, naturopaths, acupunturists, or those who use the ancient traditions of Oriental medicine for healing.

We have all had phenomenal success with our clients and patients using foods, bodywork, and natural remedies that have been around since humans first appeared on this planet!

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The parallel to naturopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists is also a good one for a practical reason: it's very hard to find a "good" one in a sea of mediocre (or even BAD) ones. Speaking for myself, I'm not averse to a nutritionist, I'm averse to spending my time and money on people who don't meet my needs. :) If you don't have a large word of mouth network, it's really hard to find "good" people - this does also extend to doctors, nurses, RDs, whatever, but I think there's a certain amount of assumption that a doctor (RD, RN, NP) has at least some baseline level of knowledge.

So, in the interest of sharing knowledge, how do we find a good nutritionist or dietitian in either case? I didn't think about the university sports medicine, that's a really good idea.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

Wow, is being geriatric, a condition for women, because most likely they are embarking on perimenpause or menopause??

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Shootingstar, I think it's just terminology.

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Originally Posted by colby

So, in the interest of sharing knowledge, how do we find a good nutritionist or dietitian in either case? I didn't think about the university sports medicine, that's a really good idea.

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I think you just have to do the research, look up some potential doctor's, nutritionists, naturapathic doctor's, etc. and set up interviews. An interview shouldn't cost you any money. We've done this when we had to look for a pediatrician for the kids. I also did interviews when looking for an OBGYN. It was a good process for us.

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Originally Posted by colby

The parallel to naturopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists is also a good one for a practical reason: it's very hard to find a "good" one in a sea of mediocre (or even BAD) ones. Speaking for myself, I'm not averse to a nutritionist, I'm averse to spending my time and money on people who don't meet my needs. :) If you don't have a large word of mouth network, it's really hard to find "good" people - this does also extend to doctors, nurses, RDs, whatever, but I think there's a certain amount of assumption that a doctor (RD, RN, NP) has at least some baseline level of knowledge.

So, in the interest of sharing knowledge, how do we find a good nutritionist or dietitian in either case? I didn't think about the university sports medicine, that's a really good idea.

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The best way to find a nutritionist is to ask your friends and family for a recommendation. Even when you find someone that everyone raves about you need to have at least a short phone or in-office consultation to discuss your needs and see if you might work well together. I'm a Nutritionist (Certified Nutrition Specialist) and I will not accept a new client until we've had that initial mini-consultation.

I probably shouldn't, but I tend to use the terms "dietician" and "nutritionist" interchangeably. I do visit a dietician occasionally, and she is on the staff at my health club. My health club is actually a hospital-based facility so the educational requirements for all staff is much higher than the average gym.