What’s the difference between a nutritional therapist, a dietician and a nutritionist?
/
I thought I’d share a post to address this question, as I’m often asked how nutritionists, nutritional therapists and dieticians differ, or indeed what they have in common, and what each of their respective roles entails in terms of improving health.
Dieticians
Dieticians typically work in the NHS, often as part of a team alongside doctors, physiotherapists, psychiatrists and nurses to treat acute physical and mental health conditions by altering and optimising the patient’s diet. As dieticians often work within clinical or hospital settings and are legally able to provide certain prescription medications, they are required to be regulated and governed by law. Dieticians don’t only work with patients though and can also take on advisory or developmental roles in the food industry or work in media and public relations to educate and inform the general population about healthier eating. They can also work to influence or advise on governmental public health policy.
Nutritionists
In a similar vein, nutritionists (sometimes incorrectly referred to as nutritionalists) also apply their expertise in an organisational or corporate setting, but do not work with individual clients on a one-to-one basis. Nutritionists provide scientific, research-based information about the impact of nutrition and food on people’s health and wellbeing, both at the individual and population level. Typically, nutritionists work in the fields of education, research, policy development, as well as in the private sector, for example in the food, catering and hospitality industries.
Nutritional therapists
Nutritional therapists on the other hand do work with individuals on a 1:1 basis. For the avoidance of doubt, it’s important to note that there are both “nutritional therapists” and “registered nutritional therapists”. Anyone can become a nutritional therapist fairly easily by completing a short course covering the basics, and there are an abundance of “hobby” nutritionists out there as well as personal trainers offering nutritional advice as an added-value service to accelerate their clients’ progress. And more power to them, because where someone is doing intensive physical training to lose weight, gain muscle mass or improve their sporting performance, adding a little bit of good nutritional advice to their programme will take them a long way.
By contrast, registered nutritional therapists (or registered nutritional therapy practitioners) are educated and trained to a high level in the science of nutrition, biochemistry and anatomy. They are accredited by the British Associate for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), which was set up with government support to protect the public. Accordingly, a registered nutritional therapist must have met with the necessary standards of professional qualification and is required to keep their knowledge up to date with ongoing continued professional development (CPD) training. Furthermore, they must be covered by the required level of professional liability and malpractice insurance to ensure public safety.
Registered nutritional therapists’ approach
Registered nutritional therapy practitioners draw upon respected scientific knowledge and research studies to address clients’ health concerns, support optimal health and promote peak performance. Where needed, they use functional testing to identify potential food intolerances, gut biome imbalances and nutrient deficiencies. These in-depth laboratory tests go beyond what a GP would carry out and enables the practitioner to understand the underlying factors that could be contributing to an individual’s symptoms or health concerns.
Nutritional Therapy is a complementary medicine. This can be defined as “any of a range of medical therapies that fall beyond the scope of conventional medicine but may be used alongside it in the treatment of disease and ill health” (Oxford Languages), and is favoured by individuals with chronic conditions, as well as those wishing to prevent future illness or enhance their health and wellbeing. A registered nutritional therapy practitioner works on the principle that every client is unique and provides a personalised nutrition programme and lifestyle advice to address their specific needs.
Whilst complementary medicine is different from conventional medicine, practitioners never recommend nutritional therapy as a replacement for medical intervention and always refer any client with 'red flag' signs or acute symptoms to their doctor. They will also frequently work alongside relevant medical professionals and will communicate with other healthcare workers involved in the client's care to explain any nutritional therapy programme that has been provided. In turn, they also check for contraindications between medication that the client has been prescribed and any recommended nutrient supplements to ensure the safety of the therapy programme.
As a CNHC-registered nutritional therapist and BANT member, I have worked with hundreds of private clients over the years to help them overcome a wide range of health issues including migraines, insomnia, candida, infertility, adrenal stress (burnout), obesity, digestive problems, anxiety and stress. You can find out more about what I can help with and how on my homepage www.naturallynutrition.co.uk.
