Who Are The Nutrition Experts?

Hello! Welcome to Feed That Nation!

My name is Natalie Nation. I am a grad student, future RD, educator, content creator, and mac and cheese expert. I love talking about college and health issues to help college students become more successful, confident, and healthy!

In this episode of Feed That Nation, I’m talking about the REAL nutrition experts.

About The Episode

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With all of the medical professionals, scientists, fitness buffs, and “I just read this on Facebook” friends out there, it is SO hard to know: Who should I get nutrition advice from?

From Registered Dietitians to that girl who posts her smoothies and workouts on Instagram, I break it all down in this episode of Feed That Nation!

This was such a fun episode for me to record (and film!). I love getting to talk about my future profession, and it’s always fun to learn about other nutrition professions and what goes into becoming one.

One of the biggest reasons that I began my podcast, and why I continue to do it, is because I love being able to make health and nutrition information accessible and engaging.

There are a few things that didn’t make it into the episode that I want to be sure to point out.

1. The dietitian versus nutritionist situation. This confusion can most easily be explained with the square-rectangle metaphor. All dietitians are nutritionists, but not all nutritionists are dietitians. Additionally, the “RD” credential is identical to the “RDN” credential in dietetics.
2. Nursing, athletic training, physical therapy, and other health-care professionals (HCPs) like social work and occupational therapy usually experience nutrition education in some form; in coursework, in undergraduate research, or in other projects. Additionally, because of personal interests in nutrition (likely related to professional interests in health-care topics), many HCPs choose to learn more about nutrition because of their own interest in it, but this does not mean that every nurse or PT is qualified to give you nutrition advice beyond the very basics.
3. Within the field of clinical dietetics, there are MANY specialties. A clinical dietitian who spends most of their career calculating pediatric tube feeds may not have as much in-depth knowledge about topics like sports nutrition for elite runners. There are also many dietitians who do not work in clinical settings, but who instead are experts in school nutrition, vitamin A metabolism, food service management…the list goes on!
4. No HCP is perfect, and not every nutrition professional will be a good match for you and your personal learning style, goals, or interests. If you meet with a nutrition professional and leave the appointment feeling…off, don’t be afraid to see a different provider next time. You deserve to work with someone who makes you feel like you can succeed!
5. I am definitely not hating on health influencers as a whole. Many health influencers have amazing hearts for educating and engaging others and a desire to build community around their interests and abilities. Positive, evidence-based, helpful health content is always a good thing, no matter who is posting it! However, there are also people who don’t have your best interests at heart, and make their living by manipulating people’s concerns and insecurities in order to sell their product. That’s why it’s important to be wary whenever a health influencer is trying to sell you anything, even if they are also a licensed HCP.

This topic is so much more complex (and sometimes controversial) and there is no way I would ever be able to break down every nuance and detail in a podcast, let alone in 20 minutes!

Final thought: On the topic of nutrition professionals, no matter who they are: be skeptical, do your research, and look for nutrition advice that is helpful, healthful, and sustainable (:

Thanks, and I’ll see you soon!

Feed That Nation is available on the following platforms: Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Castbox, Overcast, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Watch this episode of Feed That Nation on YouTube!