Consulting a nutritionist -- when, why, how?

[Biciclista]

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

[salsabike]

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.

[OakLeaf]

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).

[Crankin]

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