Q: Help! I hear something new about nutrition every day and I don’t know who to listen to.
A: One way to get reliable advice is to ask who is sending out this information. For example, is it a nutritionist or a registered dietitian and what is the difference?
Rayane AbuSabha, chairwoman of the nutrition science department and dietetics program director at The Sage Colleges, says a nutritionist is typically someone who completes an undergraduate or graduate degree in nutrition and may use nutrition expertise in a variety of ways. Some examples include scientists, professors, health educators and journalists.
Unfortunately, individuals with little or no training in the field can label themselves “nutritionist.” That is why it is important to check the nutritionist’s educational and professional background.
AbuSabha says you can be assured of getting a qualified nutrition professional with a registered dietitian, or RD. An RD is a nutritionist accredited by the American Dietetic Association.
This involves completion of an undergraduate program in nutrition followed by a year’s clinical internship and passing a national exam administered by the ADA.
Dietitians maintain their registered status through continuing education and further their training in specialized areas such as diabetes and sports nutrition.
RDs are food and nutrition experts in a variety of settings such as the food service industry, hospitals, long-term health care facilities, public health agencies, physician offices, educational settings, wellness centers, as well as private practice.
If you need medical nutrition therapy, it is imperative that you seek the advice of a registered dietitian. Your health care provider can recommend one or you can go online to the American Dietetic Association’s website, , and click on “find a nutritional professional.”
The Internet has an overwhelming number of nutrition sites and although there is a good amount of legitimate information, there is also a lot of nutrition quackery. To help you find the best resources, Tufts University sponsors an online guide to nutrition-related websites (navigator.tufts.edu). Each linked site is evaluated by nutrition experts for quality and reliability.
TV talk shows, newscasts, magazines and newspapers feed us nutrition information on a daily basis.
Ask a qualified professional for their advice before you jump on the latest report and change your diet. Most of these reports are accurate, but sometimes, in an effort to make a complicated finding more understandable, the results are over simplified and only tell part of the story.
It’s even more unfortunate and misleading when the information is sensationalized for entertainment purposes. This adds to confusion and frustration and we begin to feel that no one knows what they are talking about.
This can lead us to the nearest doughnut shop hoping for a new report announcing “Boston cream doughnuts lower cholesterol!” Sorry, Boston cream doughnuts will never lower cholesterol. Trust me.
Nina Marinello, Ph.D., is the coordinator of nutrition education in the department of athletics at the State University of New York at Albany. She also serves on the department of nutrition Science Advisory Board at The Sage Colleges in upstate New York.
