The Food and Nutrition Experts

Nutrition and health for longevity or increased performance has entered the mainstream narrative. There are so many people ready to jump in and make money: by selling supplements or a framework of what helped them to "get healthy", and ready to tell you they know the exact "root cause" of your issue.

How many times have you read or heard:

You have to adjust your gut microbiome....

You have an allergy that every doctor has missed so don't [insert some common food]....

You have to do these exact exercises.....

...and then everything will be better.

A Registered Dietitian is a nutrition expert. Registered Dietitians keep the focus on science and assist in eliminating fear mongering around food.

The reality is that the relationship between health and nutrition is far more nuanced. Calling for more research in this area is great, but make sure you have a Registered Dietitian at the table for these discussions. Our knowledge is rooted in understanding how food and nutrients affect the human body.

I saw someone in a discussion ask why the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are so general and why there aren't versions for different types of chronic disease. Well, this is the role of a Registered Dietitian: to take the guidelines and overlay them with your disease condition or conditions, and your food preferences and lifestyle to create a plan that works for the individual. There are also Registered Dietitians that help create broad guidelines for disease conditions to help guide other clinicians.

Did you know Registered Dietitians have the capability of noticing the physical signs of malnutrition, as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies? We are aware of the social and cultural implications of recommending foods. We are aware of the nuanced intersection of emotions and eating. Not only are we aware of these nuances, we are equipped to help individuals navigate these nuances.

Bringing, or raising the voices of, Registered Dietitians in the food as health/food as medicine/ food is medicine movement is imperative for any of these idea, policies, or research to be reasonably adapted into individual's lives.