Holistic nutrition, what is it & why should you work with one?
written by Allyson Lewis, RHN
The most common questions I get are “what is the difference between a Holistic Nutritionist and a Registered Dietician” and “What is the benefit of working with a Holistic Nutritionist”?
This is what I am going to explain to you today!
I would like to start of by saying, I have a lot of respect for everyone within the world of nutrition from health coaches, personal trainers who provide nutrition advice/meal plans, RD’s, etc. Any one who works within the nutrition industry, has put in many hours in to complete their studies, all with the similar end goal of helping individuals reach their personal health & wellness goals.
To answer the first question, there are some differences and some similarities! If you do a quick google search on this question I am sure you will find many articles from holistic nutritionists stating why they are better to work with and also many from dieticians stating why they are better to work with. However, when it comes down to it the main difference, is education/certification. Dietetics is obtained through a university degree and Holistic Nutrition can be completed through a certified program. The topics which are taught for each program also have a different focus.
As a holistic nutritionist, I work with individuals who have particular health challenges that they know about and want to use food as a tool to help them overcome these issues. Maybe they don’t actually know what is going on and their doctor tells them they are fine but really, they feel like something is going on regardless. We try to get to the root cause by doing an assessment on all body systems. I provide preventative nutrition advice and also strive to help my clients with any challenges they are facing (an example of this would be helping them navigate their relationship with food and the impact it has had on their life since childhood). When you see a holistic nutritionist, you are not given a list of foods you can or can not eat, you are not set on your way with a meal plan and left with no direction and you are most definitely not sold unnecessary products or made to participate in “fad” diets.
As far as how dieticians run their practice, I can not fully comment on this because I actually really don’t know. I know people who are RD’s who have the same philosophies as myself and some that don’t, and that is completely ok.
This blog post (https://holisticnutritionhub.ca/blog/holistic-nutrition-vs-dietetics/) can give you some more insight from someone who has taken both programs. (Please take into account the years she took each program were more than 10 years ago and have most likely both programs have evolved since then, however, I do believe the foundations are still similar)
To answer the second question, “what is the benefit to working with a holistic nutritionist”?, I kind of answered this a bit above. However, when you see a holistic nutritionist, you will be provided with one-on-one services where we will go over your full health history, a full assessment of the body systems and based on any findings, you will be provided with a detailed plan that we will work together on to make sure it fits with your individual needs.
One of my favourite things about working with clients, is that everyone is different. Holistic nutrition focuses on an individual approach to nutrition. We are all unique and can not be treated the same. What works for one person will most likely not work for everyone.
Holistic nutrition is a perfect complimentary service when you are working on a treatment plan with other health care providers such as Chiropractors, Naturopath’s, Massage Therapists, etc.
Not sure if holistic nutrition is right for you? Or maybe you have some more questions about it that you would like to be answered. I am offering 20 minute discovery calls at no cost to you!