Nutritionist/Dietitian – A person who is going to tell you this extremely basic stuff that everyone already knows! – eat less sugar, less rice, less oil and less salt! Who doesn’t know this? We all know it. Our neighbours know it. Our relatives know it. And for anything that may be left out, the WhatsApp University always has your back to give you all the latest updates about the World of Nutrition!
In fact, a lot of times, social media, ads and influencers are even better! Because they give you Magical Advices! You see! A Dietitian may ask you to change the way you eat but these Magical advices just need you to have one Aabra-ka-Daabra Powder or Pill and Tada! You are gonna lose weight!
Well, if you are someone who thinks of a Dietitian or a Nutritionist in the same/similar way, this article is FOR YOU!
The first thing that you need to really think about and try to understand is WHY are people opting to STUDY Nutrition? The colleges, job opportunities, number of Nutrition Experts in the market are only increasing. Why? If they knew the things that anyone and everyone already knows, what are they doing at college for 3 Years? Sometimes, they even get a Master’s Degree so are they learning how to make clients/patients stop eating sugar, fat and salt for another 2 years? Just the same old thing?
This is hard to believe. Right? Which means that what they know is something more! (maybe a lot more than you think!) And it all comes from a scientific base, comes from studying various subjects! Yes! Even when they study Nutrition, they are not studying just the Food stuff! They study a lot of other subjects throughout their education to understand the Human body and a person’s individual needs.
You can think of this as despite you knowing everything about food and diets through social media, influencers and Dr. Google, your lifestyle and health begins to change ONLY after the Magical Meeting with a Nutritionist. (It’s actually these Nutrition Experts who are Magicians and not some packaged item available on the Supermarket Shelf!)
These Magicians – They are your teachers but also your buddies!
They understand you! They talk to you like sweet friends! Tell you it’ll all be alright! (Just like the Doctors!) They talk to you in a way that makes you trust them with your extremely personal issues. They make you understand all the scientific stuff they have studied in a way that sounds super simple (and doable). AND become the people who end up changing your Lifestyle and Life! And not just this! After all this, when you thank them, they’re gonna tell you that this happened because of YOUR EFFORTS! Isn’t this extreme kindness?
Wait! Wait! Wait! This was just about normal individuals who may want to change their lifestyle to get healthier and function at their Best Potential. But a Dietitian is not just that!
I am sure you have seen these people in white coats, just like the Doctors who come and talk to you about the Hospital food! All of us have had some or the other person we know being admitted in a hospital for a major surgery or a minor illness and we have seen that there are Dietitians in almost every hospital?! So, what’s their role? Well, as much as you need medications to recover, your diets can also be the Make-or-Break during your hospital stay and recovery!
The right Dietitian will tell you exactly what you need to eat and what you DON’T need to eat starting from a normal fever to a patient admitted in the ICU. Just imagine! A patient with all those food pipes! Their food is decided by the Dietitians along with the Doctors! Their Health cannot be messed up and to take care of them, a Food Expert is mandatory. An expert helps them to survive and recover! And that food expert is your Dietitian.
A Nutritionist or a Dietitian can help you:
If you are an individual who wants to change their current diet and lifestyle to feel fitter and better,
If you are a Diabetic,
If you have High Blood Pressure,
If you are the Mother of a New Born Baby,
If you are a Pregnant Lady,
If you are a 60+ years Man,
If you have fever,
If you are an Athlete,
If you have Kidney Disorders,
If you have had a Heart Surgery,
If you are a Teenager,
If you have Constipation,
If you have Diarrhoea
And this list really doesn’t end!
(Well, yes! Also If you want to gain or lose weight!)
There are various areas, age groups, diseases, conditions and mindsets that a Nutrition Expert is capable of dealing with! There are Sports Nutritionists, Clinical Dietitians, etc., etc., etc. And then there are also people who teach and research about Nutrition – the teachers are responsible for all these Magical Experts for they provide them with all the needed knowledge and skills to deal with an actual human being and the eye-opening researchers who dig deeper to reveal to us, the Wonders of the World of Nutrition.
This is a very broad area that requires an aspirant to work extremely hard to not just study about the Human Body, Human Nutrition and the Diets in Diseases but also learn (in fact, develop on their own) the skills needed to counsel and convince a client/patient on what is right for them! (And it doesn’t end with convincing – the Nutritionist is also responsible for making them actually implement it and the clients/patients are literally hand-held till they reach the desired destination.)
The work of the right and qualified Nutrition Expert is only getting tougher due to the fad diets, crash diets, people getting insecure about their own bodies, people wanting to resort to just anything to lose weight, people equating weight loss to being healthy and not to mention – the social media and apps’ impact!
As a Client/Patient, I’d highly recommend that you only visit a Qualified Nutritionist/Dietitian. Ask for their qualifications, if needed or when in doubt! The right ones will always be proud to tell you. And stay away from quick fixes because the damage will only be to your health and a lot of times also to your hard-earned money! (The minimum qualification is a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition/Food Science/similar subjects because I am sure you have understood by now that a Nutritionist doesn’t become a Nutritionist by doing a short-term course!)
I am hopeful that this article has helped you understand the POWER that the Right Nutritionist holds to transform your life and that the next time you meet one, you are going to respect him/her, a little more!
Although, Dietitians are very much qualified for making you gain or lose weight, they are capable of a LOT MORE!
Also note that these Qualified Nutrition and Dietetics Experts can make you change your body “without” looking a certain way, themselves! Just because you have an image and imagination in your mind doesn’t mean the Expert you go to, HAS to look like that. They have studied the subject and that is the only reason you go to them. Also, the Right Dietitian will NEVER ask you to lose weight and look a certain way in X amount of time. So, when your Nutritionist doesn’t judge you, you don’t judge them, either. Because their Power is their knowledge and not their own body!
A fat-looking Dietitian can make you lose fat/weight and a thin-looking Dietitian can make you gain muscle/weight through their right approach! An Anaemic Dietitian can increase your Haemoglobin levels and a Nutritionist who has Acne can be the reason why you get a clear and glowing skin!
So, respect them in this regard, too!
Wishing you all Good Health through Happiness and Happiness through Good Health.
