A ‘Clinical Nutritionist’ is a qualified healthcare professional who can provide personalised advice on diet, lifestyle, and nutritional supplementation, including the use of specific medicinal nutrient forms and doses to support personal health goals and the amelioration of various health conditions, within a clinical practice setting.
This guide is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of Nutritionists, including:
Throughout history, many civilizations have used food, and the substances contained within, as a form of medicine.
Almost 2,500 years ago, Hippocrates said “let food be thy medicine”, and even in today’s modern world this phrase continues to be used as somewhat of a mantra within Natural Medicine given the increasingly prevalent excesses and deficiencies that continue to persist as a result of ever-changing dietary habits around the world.
However, the study of specific nutrient compounds, and how they work within the body to keep us healthy and prevent disease, is a relatively modern branch of science.
Perhaps one of the most classic modern examples began in the 18th century, when wayfaring European sailors were still illuminating the darkest corners of the world, and scurvy plagued ship crews. It caused extreme fatigue, “a strange dejection of spirits,”1, fever, bleeding gums, and bowed legs that looked ready to snap at any moment. As a young man, Scottish doctor James Lind served as a medical apprentice in the British Royal Navy, which allowed him to observe the effects of scurvy first hand, and prompted him to conduct the famous dietary experiment that revealed citrus fruits as the cure. His research eventually helped to eliminate the scourge of scurvy from ships, and provided one of the first clear scientific examples of a specific nutrient being responsible for various health outcomes.
Although sadly it took about another 200 years before the first ‘vitamins’ were isolated and characterised by their chemical composition and properties. This led to some of the first ‘nutritionists’ and ‘dietitians’ working in hospitals in the late 19th century, and the health benefits of good nutrition started to be more widely understood and accepted by the public.2
Nutrition is the study of nutrients, and how they affect our health. A ‘Nutritionist’ (in the general sense), is someone who studies food, nutrition, and the relationship between diet, health, and disease.
A ‘Clinical Nutritionist’ is a specifically qualified healthcare professional who can provide personalised clinical advice on diet, lifestyle, and nutritional supplementation, including the use of specific medicinal nutrient forms and doses to support personal health goals and the amelioration of various health conditions, within a clinical practice setting.
Some types of Nutritionist may further differentiate themselves into areas of specialty such as sports nutrition, animal nutrition, and public health.
Clinical Nutritionists may also specialise in various areas of clinical expertise such as child and family health, reproduction and hormones, immunity and allergy, healthy aging and lifespan, etc.
The term ‘Dietitian’ and ‘Nutritionist’ are often used interchangeably by the general public, however this is often a source of confusion since not every Nutritionist can be considered to be a Dietitian, and yet a Dietitian can still be considered to be a type of Nutritionist.
This is further complicated by the fact that Dietitians, being qualified to treat patients, can be considered clinical (and therefore could be considered to be a form of Clinical Nutritionist).
However, the term ‘Clinical Nutritionist’ tends to primarily be used to refer to nutritionists with clinical qualifications that are not Dietitians, such as Nutritional Medicine Practitioners.
Dietitians practice a specific type of nutrition called ‘Dietetics’, which is focused on addressing a patient’s dietary needs, especially when they are undergoing medical treatment, such as in a hospital.
Nutritional Medicine Practitioners by contrast are more likely to work in their own private practice, and treat patients through diet and lifestyle modifications, as well as specific nutrient prescriptions, with the purpose of assisting the management of chronic health conditions and risks directly.
Dietitians and Nutritional Medicine Practitioners are both bachelor degree trained clinical healthcare professionals, and each constitute some of the highest qualified clinical nutrition professionals available.
There are many factors that can make our individual needs unique. Such factors include: age, gender, lifestyle, family history and genetics, life history and past events, as well as even our beliefs and traditions, etc.
A Clinical Nutritionist can provide an in-depth assessment of individual personal needs, through extensive case history analysis, physical assessments, and biochemical laboratory testing.
Based on these assessments, a Clinical Nutritionist can develop personalised recommendations to improve health, and assist with reducing the symptoms of various health conditions, as well as certain risks that may be associated with those conditions.
Such recommendations may include specific diet and lifestyle modifications, personalised supplement prescriptions, and potentially even custom medicines tailored to your specific needs.
Through this process a Clinical Nutritionist can help teach people more about themselves and how their body works. The insights gained can help build a broadened understanding of not just what might be beneficial, but why.
Nutritionists use a number of different techniques to provide health advice, including:
Many people visit nutritionists with particular goals they want to achieve. They may have gained weight and want to get into better shape. They may be aware of certain family or genetic health risks and want to take steps to reduce those risks. They may have existing chronic health conditions and symptoms and would like to reduce those symptoms and feel better. They may simply be looking to look and feel their best. A qualified Clinical Nutritionist will be able to offer sound advice to help individuals achieve these goals.
In order to provide valuable advice, a Clinical Nutritionist must understand a patient’s existing diet – which foods they typically eat, and how often they eat them.
As well as exploring the local environment and any lifestyle habits that may provide a better understanding of what is needed, and which adjustments may be most feasible.
A Clinical Nutritionist may also observe physical signs and symptoms for further indications into the body’s needs.
A Clinical Nutritionist may recommend certain laboratory tests to gain detailed insights into a patient’s personal biochemistry (such as blood tests, urine tests, saliva tests, hair tests, stool tests, etc.). The level of detail provided by such tests may assist with developing highly personalised and targeted treatment strategies (that would not otherwise be possible from external examinations alone).
After understanding the patient’s current diet and needs, certain customised diet and lifestyle plans may be used to provide tangible structure for individuals to follow, that target certain goals established during any assessment stages. This plan can then be used to track changes over time and monitor for further progress and evolution of treatment.
After comprehensive assessment of individual personal needs, a Clinical Nutritionist may recommend supplementation with various specialised forms and doses of nutraceutical compounds that may assist with modulating biochemical processes within the body to help achieve any targeted health goals. Sometimes this may extend to the development of custom compounded medicines (tailored nutrient formulations) dispensed for addressing any especially unique needs, or yielding particularly powerful effects.
Eating good food is one of the best things you can do for your health. It has an immense number of benefits, including:3,4
A nutritionist can provide professional, quality advice on how you can use food to vastly improve your health.
Here are some guidelines to follow when choosing a nutritionist:
Once you’ve found a potential nutritionist, it is worth asking them the following questions to ensure they are credible and a good fit for you.