Do general practioners know about nutrition?

JoyceMoul
JoyceMoul Posts: 8 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
When I go to my doctor, I sometimes think I am more knowledgeable about nutrition than he. I don't think you should eliminate a whole food group, yet he suggested I eliminate carbs. I believe in a well rounded diet with complex carbs.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    JoyceMoul wrote: »
    When I go to my doctor, I sometimes think I am more knowledgeable about nutrition than he. I don't think you should eliminate a whole food group, yet he suggested I eliminate carbs. I believe in a well rounded diet with complex carbs.

    Don't doctors do about 1 day on nutrition as part of their training?

    So if you have done more than a days worth of reading up on nutrition, you probably do know more.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    JoyceMoul wrote: »
    When I go to my doctor, I sometimes think I am more knowledgeable about nutrition than he. I don't think you should eliminate a whole food group, yet he suggested I eliminate carbs. I believe in a well rounded diet with complex carbs.

    Doctors who do not specialize in weight management have very limited training in nutrition and fitness. Some take extra time to learn and do have the knowledge, but usually they are not the best source for this type of information.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    Sadly, many don't. I work with some and many have ideas that you have to eliminate carbs, fruit sugar is bad, and you can spot reduce.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited January 2019
    Depends on the GP. Mine is quite knowledgeable, but he's also a competitive tri-athlete so he's studied nutrition extensively on his own to maximize his performance and recovery. Nutrition isn't a substantial amount of a GP's education though.

    Keto is, at the moment the hot diet so it's not particularly surprising that he would recommend it. Have you been diagnosed with T2D? If so, that may be another reason your GP recommended it, though it's not necessary to be keto to control T2D.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,910 Member
    JoyceMoul wrote: »
    When I go to my doctor, I sometimes think I am more knowledgeable about nutrition than he. I don't think you should eliminate a whole food group, yet he suggested I eliminate carbs. I believe in a well rounded diet with complex carbs.

    The standard curriculum seems to include very limited nutrition information, and for most doctors, that was years ago.

    They're just regular human beings, they can't master everything. (Honestly, I can't imagine how tough that job is: So much complexity, high rate of new discoveries, pressure from insurance companies/HMOs/etc., regular contact with people who won't follow treatment regimens as required, uber-high stakes for the outcomes, strong-arm by drug reps, and more.)

    I respect my GP doctor's intelligence a lot, which is different from wide-eyed belief in every word he says. I expect him to be pretty up to date on common illnesses and their treatment (in terms of standard, mainstream medicine modalities). If he didn't seem to be, I'd get a new doctor.

    Generally, if I need something specialized/medical, he refers me to a specialist (over the years: oncologists, surgeons, dermatologist, gastroenterologist, osteopath who specializes in manipulation, orthopedist, osteoporosis clinic, and probably some I'm forgetting).

    If I needed specialist nutritional advice, I'd ask for a referral to a registered dietitian. If my reasons were sensible, I'd bet he'd give it to me.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Eliminate carbs? Like a carnivorous diet with no fruit, veggies or grains?

    My guess is that he means to eliminate, or really cut back on, processed and refined carbohydrates like breads, muffins, other baked goods, cereals and pasta. Probably good advice, IMO. Those foods are really only helpful if you need calories, but in terms of health, that's about all it offers.

    Doctors know next to nothing about nutrition. For acute health problems, I love my doctor. For chronic lifestyle problems, all they tend to do is prescribe meds to address symptoms.

    Dieticians, IMO, tend to teach whatever food agency dogma was popular when they went to school. Some may be helpful but for many you'll learn just as much looking at myplate or the older food pyramid.
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