'nutritionists'? can they be trusted?

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hamlet1222
hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I see a lot of nutritionist correspondence courses, and it seems anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. Should what they say be taken with any credibility at all?
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  • pootle1972
    pootle1972 Posts: 579 Member
    edited October 2015
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    If I wanted advice personally I would use a proper degree level educated dietician..because of the relative ease of gaining a computer course in nutrition. Edit to say some may know their stuff but it's a scary place out there and full of whack jobs.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    I'd say they can be trusted as much as strangers on a free fitness site. :p

    Look for a nutritionist that is a licensed dietician. That's not to say that others can't be trusted, just that the degree will help you know without trial and error.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    hamlet1222 wrote: »
    I see a lot of nutritionist correspondence courses, and it seems anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. Should what they say be taken with any credibility at all?

    "Nutritionists" are hit or miss, mostly miss. You are better off with a Registered Dietician.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    It depends...pretty much anyone can be a nutritionist just as pretty much anyone can be a personal trainer. There are good ones and bad ones just as in any profession. In my experience with personal trainers, the mediocre to bad trainers exist in abundance and really good ones are hard to find.

    if i was really going to need major nutritional advice due to a medical condition or something I'd get referred to a registered dietitian.
  • gobonas99
    gobonas99 Posts: 1,049 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Dietitians and Certified Clinical Nutritionists both require at least Bachelor degrees and state licensure/continuing education.

    The "clinical" is the important distinction for nutritionists that denotes actual education and training in nutrition - at least in the US. If a nutritionist doesn't have "clinical" in their title, then there is no way to know if they've taken anything more than a basic nutrition certification course (although to be fair, as with personal trainers, that doesn't necessarily mean they're not good at what they do...just that you need to do a LOT more research about them and their reputation).
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
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    NEVER TRUST ANYONE just use the advice they give to compare to the next three you ask then make a decision.. Yes they should at least have a 4 year degree or be Doogie Howser..
  • sixxpoint
    sixxpoint Posts: 3,529 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Not in my experience... Most people get into that field based on fad diets, tv doctors, or an unhealthy fixation on micronutrients, vitamins & minerals while ignoring macronutrients and weight management. They suggest low fat diets, low carb diets, everything they recommend is a low calorie choice, and they tend to have zero background in weight lifting or exercise in general.

    Best to learn for yourself and then if you are still confused, consult with a nutritionist and ask very basic questions that they should know. If they don't answer with a satisfactory response then move onto the next.

    Why are you interested, OP?
    Michael190lbs wrote: »
    NEVER TRUST ANYONE just use the advice they give to compare to the next three you ask then make a decision.. Yes they should at least have a 4 year degree or be Doogie Howser..

    I don't have such a degree, but I am confident in what I know... And it is more than most. I would even venture to guess even more than those with a quantifiable education on the topic. This includes RD's (registered dieticians).
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    You can search for a free online class in nutrition that is offered by a legitimate organization. Someone here did that and found it helpful.
    There are some classes on YouTube too. The ones I saw looked good.
    Also you can start a thread with a question and be prepared to weed out the useful answers from the non useful ones.
  • shannon4000
    shannon4000 Posts: 8 Member
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    I agree its hit or miss. Also check your medical insurance sometimes they will pay a portion of the cost.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    vinegar_husbands wrote: »
    hamlet1222 wrote: »
    and it seems anyone can call themselves a nutritionist.

    It doesn't just seem that way, that's how it is. You can call yourself a nutritionist regardless of your education. Dietitians, on the other hand, are actually educated in this topic.

    That depends entirely on where you are. Where I am - Nutritionist and Registered Dietician are the same thing, both a protected title. You DO require an education, the same one as an RD, to call yourself a Nutritionist.
  • Blackdawn_70631
    Blackdawn_70631 Posts: 283 Member
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    My husband was sent to a nutritionist, and he was told the same thing he had researched online. And even the sheet she had given him to detox your body by scrubbing in circles going either away or to your heart. It wasn't noted on there that people with spider veins, like I have, can't do that.
    He didn't go back.
    Not saying we know as much as they do, they did go to school, they do know more. But my husband and I do research after research of health, between truth and myth, educating ourselves.
    So some may give wrong advice, others not. But it is best to speak to a professional, not someone who thinks they are, then follow up your findings with your own research.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    I'd say they can be trusted as much as strangers on a free fitness site. :p

    Look for a nutritionist that is a licensed dietician. That's not to say that others can't be trusted, just that the degree will help you know without trial and error.

    Agreed.

    At a minimum, you want the degree.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I'd say that if you are going to use one, you should find a nutritionist that is licensed, IF the area where you live has that. Not all places do. And if they do not, there is actually very little regulation and you can get some real doozies.

    That said, even dietitians, which are basically nutritionists that have gone through verified training to a certain level, are not perfect. There are some things you will want to take into consideration before going to one.

    1. Like most professions, how good they are is on a bell curve. A few really bad ones, a few really good ones, and a lot of 'average' ones. I would seriously find some reviews online of the person before using them.

    2. Dietitians and nutritionists will use the information they were taught. Duh, right? Except what they were taught follows certain guidelines that can be, sadly, be strongly influenced by money and politics. The meat and dairy industry are known for this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8375951. Sugar is another big one: http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/center-for-science-and-democracy/added-sugar-subtracted-science.pdf

    So when it comes to nutrition, when you speak to a Dietician or nutritionist, you will be getting information from two sources: actual research plus information someone had enough wealth/influence to add in or alter to their advantage.

    3. They are human, and will have their own biases on what diets are good and bad. Like the Dietician I saw who, when finding out my son was allergic to dairy, refused to help us find any non-dairy calcium sources because you 'need' dairy. She actually told us we should just keep trying to feed my son as much dairy as he could have. 0.o I imagine she would have been a nightmare dietitian for a vegan.

    4. And last, if you need a specialized diet rather than help on nutrition in general, be prepared to have to do the work yourself, because nutritionists and dietitians do not get a lot of good instruction on the various medical dietary restrictions, or on where allergens are in our food supply. They have a few basics that the professors spend more time on (like low cholesterol diets, or avoiding peanuts for peanut allergic folks), and some may do more research themselves to specialize in certain diets (like those who learn more about the gluten free diet for celiacs). But there will be a lot they don't know.

    The Dietitians I've met, or who friends have met, were needed for medically restricted diets. But they had no idea what a low histamine diet was, or a low FODMAP diet, or a ketogenic diet. While some of these have been fad diets now, they are all originally for medical conditions and are still used for such in many cases. It was disappointing to realize how limited most dietitians' knowledge was about specialized diets.

    And oddly, there will also be some diets that they are so flat out wrong about you kind of wonder what they were doing in school that semester. There's the head Dietitian - dietitian, not nutritionist - of a hospital in my town who thought that 'gluten' was something found in potatoes, and was adjusting all the hospital's gluten free patients so they had no potatoes, but lots of whole wheat.



    So...when it comes to credibility, I'd say if you get some good reviews, that helps. And if you need some help, they can be useful as a resource, although I would personally verify all the information you are given, just to be sure.
  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
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    I found a good one through my primary care doctor. She works in the local hospital. I don't know her exact credentials but know she has a master's degree and is registered and licensed in my state. I would look for someone who is connected to medical doctors. That helps weed out some of the wackos.

    I'd also be careful of thinking Google and Internet forums could replace an expert. Both are excellent tools but could provide incorrect information.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    edited October 2015
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    no, I wouldn't trust the word of a self-proclaimed "nutritionist" - at least not without independently verifying it.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    No! A registered dietitian goes to school for 4 years, one year of an internship (which is an extremely competive program), and must pass a national board exam.
  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I would trust someone with no degree or certification at all who is up on the latest science and willing to step outside the cult of heart healthy whole grains over someone who is wedded to the one size fits all USDA recommendations, no matter what credentials they have on the wall.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    gobonas99 wrote: »
    Dietitians and Certified Clinical Nutritionists both require at least Bachelor degrees and state licensure/continuing education.

    The "clinical" is the important distinction for nutritionists that denotes actual education and training in nutrition - at least in the US. If a nutritionist doesn't have "clinical" in their title, then there is no way to know if they've taken anything more than a basic nutrition certification course (although to be fair, as with personal trainers, that doesn't necessarily mean they're not good at what they do...just that you need to do a LOT more research about them and their reputation).

    Just a note in the US it is either licensed or registered. A clinical nutritionist/dietitian probably deals more with acute care level patients. You will either see RD, RDN, or LD
  • rhyolite_
    rhyolite_ Posts: 188 Member
    edited October 2015
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    No, I would not trust a nutritionist. And actually, I've seen 2 registered dieticians in the past that gave me incorrect information, so from my n=1, I don't trust RD either.

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