"The reason I became a nutritionist was to help people solve problems. Nutrition does that by integrating science, communication, and health. It is a nurturing field, and it is rewarding to work with people and see transformation happen!"
-Alicia Bernstein, M.S., R.D., Holistic Nutritionist
Ask any nutritionist and he or she will tell you food is medicine. Nutritional medicine is the use of diet, food, and nutritional supplements to enhance health. Nutrition is used to prevent illness, treat specific health problems, and promote overall health and well being. Practitioners of nutrition include dietitians, dietetic technicians, registered dietitians (R.D.s), nutritionists, nutritional consultants, and nutritional counselors. All of these practitioners are concerned with healthy eating and lifestyles and use nutrition to promote health. Typically holistic practitioners are called nutritionists, but any of these can be considered holistic if they incorporate holistic philosophies into their work. Holistic nutritionists view health as multifaceted, including physiological, emotional, and spiritual factors. They treat the whole person and use alternative methods such as herbal medicine to help clients. Holistic nutritionists analyze multiple variables pertaining to the mind and body to define how well nutrients are absorbed and utilized in the body. They consider more factors than traditional dietitians and hold a broader view of health and well being.
Philosophy
Holistic nutritionists believe in a philosophy of food as medicine and strive to balance a whole-foods approach to nutrition and health. They believe that a healthy diet is crucial to cultivating wellness in the body, mind, spirit, and community. Like all holistic practitioners, they focus on the whole person and believe in the body's natural healing abilities. They believe a healthy whole-food diet increases and supports the body's immune system. Holistic nutritionists emphasize fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. They value foods that haven't been processed or grown with chemical pesticides and encourage the use of organic foods. Their philosophy and treatment is simple-look at the whole person to find dietary changes and nutritional supplements that will meet the client's needs.
Types of Clients and Problems
Nutritional counseling helps people at all levels of health because it strengthens the body, mind, and spirit. Thus, holistic nutritionists see a variety of clients, although more women than men see nutritionists. Healthy clients seek nutritional counseling to maintain health, increase energy, and ensure they are eating right. They may have specific dietary questions, want to lose weight, or want to prevent an illness that runs in the family. Parents may go to a holistic nutritionist to make sure that they are providing a healthy diet for their children. A second group of clients see nutritionists because they have health problems. Common problems seen by holistic nutritionists include digestive problems, eating disorders, allergies, fatigue, upper respiratory infections, colds, flu, chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, high cholesterol, and cardiac problems. Many clients with health problems see a holistic nutritionist in addition to other medical practitioners. For example, clients taking prescription drugs or undergoing surgery may see a nutritionist to help handle the stress of other medical treatments. A cancer patient may see a nutritionist in an attempt to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. Someone with high cholesterol may see a nutritionist before going on long-term medication. Some people even choose to fight a serious illness with nutritional diets and supplements. Nutritional counseling is safe and can only benefit a client regardless of their health problem or goal.
Type of Care Provided
Everyone's body is different. Holistic nutritionists provide personalized care and support to meet diverse client needs. They develop nutritional care plans individualized to each client. An initial appointment with a holistic nutritionist takes one to one and a half hours. During this time the nutritionist asks clients about their health problems, exercise level, health history, diet, lifestyle, work, stress level, and social life. They ask specific questions about symptoms to identify nutritional deficiencies. They may ask about sleep patterns, reaction to hot and cold, and reaction to sunlight and weather, among other variables pertaining to physical and emotional health. This lengthy questioning is their primary tool for diagnosing nutritional problems and deficiencies.
Nutritionists care for clients by developing with the client an individualized nutritional plan. This plan includes specific dietary changes and recommendations. Together the nutritionist and the client come up with a diet to treat a health problem and/or to meet the nutritional needs of the client. Typically certain foods are identified to be included or excluded from the diet. For example, one client's plan may include the elimination of dairy products, while another person may need to eat more complete proteins. The nutritionist may recommend certain amounts of each food to be consumed. In addition, holistic nutritionists recommend vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as the use of herbal medicine or other health care methods. A discussion of lifestyle factors, including exercise and stress reduction techniques, often becomes part of the nutritional treatment plan.
Education plays the largest role in working with clients. The nutritionist's primary role is to educate clients about nutrition, diet, and healthy lifestyles. Nutritionists are in the unique position in that they work with something that people can control their diet. They work to empower clients to take responsibility for their health. Teaching clients about healthy nutrition gives people the best means for directly impacting their health.
Employment Settings and Working Conditions
"When you're on your own in private practice, you tend to develop niches, in addition to spending time with clients. I consult at a mental health center, teach a course at a community college, and sell vitamin charts I developed. I don't spend more than twenty hours a week actually sitting and talking with clients."
-Alicia Bernstein, M.S., R.D., Holistic Nutritionist
Most holistic nutritionists work in private practice because holistic nutrition is typically not compatible with institutional environments such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, or industry. Holistic nutritionists spend more time with clients than these settings usually allow, and many require the additional tasks of running institutional food service programs. The strength of holistic nutrition is the individual counseling and support, and most nutritionists make this the center of their practice. Private practices can be individual or with other holistic health care providers. In group practices, nutritionists can be found working with holistic M.D.s, massage therapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists. Private practice settings also require business development and management skills. Nutritionists in private practice are responsible for advertising and marketing their services, billing patients, keeping records, and managing the office.
In addition to seeing clients, many holistic nutritionists write books and articles and teach a variety of classes and workshops. Some work as consultants to the natural food industry working with manufacturing, marketing, and advertising departments. Others sell nutritional supplements and herbal products to supplement their income. There is a great deal of flexibility, and it is common for holistic nutritionists to piece together a variety of income-producing services.
The working conditions for holistic nutritionists vary greatly. They work in comfortable office spaces, out of their homes, and in different locations for workshops and classes. They typically work at least forty hours a week, with some working evening and weekend hours to accommodate client schedules or to teach classes. Like any other entrepreneurs, holistic nutritionists have the freedom and responsibility to create their own businesses.
"The challenges are that the field is still under development and that it is not always well accepted by traditional medical peers that you inevitably have to work with."
-Alicia Bernstein, M.S., R.D., Holistic Nutritionist
The Profession
This is a new and budding specialty area in the field of nutrition. Currently, holistic nutrition is not regulated and there is no licensure or certification. Thus, people with various backgrounds can go into private practice and call themselves a nutritionist. This makes it difficult for an aspiring nutritionist to choose the right path. As the field continues to grow, some type of regulation can be anticipated, which will help to standardized the requirements for becoming a nutritionist.
Holistic nutrition, nutritional counseling, and nutritional consultants are quite different from traditionally trained dietitians. Registered dietitians (R.D.s) are certified through the American Dietetic Association and have licensing and certification guidelines. One cannot call himself or herself a dietitian without meeting these requirements, and the training path is clear. Becoming a registered dietitian in addition to learning holistic nutritional techniques is one avenue to consider.
Training and Qualifications
It can be difficult to ascertain the best route for becoming a holistic nutritionist. As mentioned, the field is unregulated, and there is no one way to become a holistic nutritionist. Holistic nutritionists come from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Some have an associate, bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, master's or doctorate degrees in nutrition, nutrition education, nursing, public health, counseling, clinical nutrition, or related fields. Some, in addition to a bachelor's or master's, have the registered dietitian (R.D.) degree certification. Others earn degrees in naturopathic medicine, traditional medicine (M.D.), biochemistry, or immunology and apply it practically to nutrition. Still others have no degree and complete certificate or diploma programs in holistic nutrition or study independently by taking various workshops and classes. With practitioners having such a wide array of backgrounds, it can be difficult to decide the best training. It appears that the options fall into two broad categories:
- A science focused approach combined with a degree program (associate's, bachelor's, R.D., etc.) or
- A holistic approach combined with independent study, which may include a diploma or a certificate program.
The second route focuses primarily on holistic philosophies and treatment methods. There are several non-degree certificate or diploma programs in holistic nutrition or related areas. Many are correspondence schools. The programs vary in length but take considerably less time than degree programs. Since many of these programs are self-directed study, the length of program depends on the student's time and effort to complete the course work. It can range from three months to two years. The programs vary greatly and should be well researched before committing to this path. Typically this route lacks a strong science background, but some science courses can be required as a prerequisite. Students in these programs take courses such as:
- health and wellness
- anatomy and physiology
- normal nutrition
- clinical nutrition
- professional counseling
- practice management
People interested in becoming holistic nutritionists should carefully research the options available for study and choose a path that best meets their needs and goals. One way to develop a personal career plan is to talk with various nutritionists doing the work. It would be helpful to talk to nutritionists who have different backgrounds, work settings, and specialty areas such as cancer, eating disorders, vegetarianism, hospice care, and the elderly. Research the field and begin to develop a personal vision for the work. With a clear vision and goal, finding the right training will become evident.
"In general, you have the problem that holistic nutritionists don't have the grounding in nutritional science course work. On the other hand, registered dietitians don't tend to go beyond the confines of traditional nutrition. There is a problem. You've got to bring traditional and new techniques together."
-Alicia Bernstein, M.S., R.D., Holistic Nutritionist
Job Outlook and Salary
The field of private practice nutritional counseling appears to be growing. This is due, in part, to increased consumer interest in health and nutrition and to cutbacks in institutional employment. Holistic nutritionists opening private practices are finding demands for their services. The salary for private practice holistic nutritionists, range from $25,000 to $50,000 a year. The salary varies depending on other income-providing activities. Holistic nutritionists collect their salaries from patients and insurance companies.
Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) commonly reimburse for nutritional services, as do some private insurance companies. Holistic nutritionists who do not have the R.D. degree may have more difficulty obtaining reimbursement from insurance companies. As with any entrepreneur, the salary greatly depends on the marketing ability and talent of the individual.
