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I wish they'd quit misusing the word "nutritionist". The word has no value whatsoever. If you want to call yourself a nutritionist, go ahead. Nobody will stop y

I wish they'd quit misusing the word "nutritionist". The word has no value whatsoever. If you want to call yourself a nutritionist, go ahead. Nobody will stop you. The protected professional designation is "dietitian". When the NYT calls out "nutritionists", I have no idea who they're talking about.

wlesieutre 10y ago
The analogy I've heard is that "nutritionist" is to dietician as "toothologist" is to dentist. One of them is a medical profession with required education and certifications, the other is not.
- frenchy 10y ago
  This is a bad analogy. Nobody calls themselves a "toothologist". The reason is pertinent as well: dentists are basically toned down surgeons, and (in North America) you're not allowed to practice as a dentist without the training because of the harm you can cause. You're not going to get HIV/Hepatitis from a nutritionist, you can from a shitty dentist. Edit: a good analogy would probably be a licensed counselor/therapist vs and unlicensed one.
  - DanBC 10y ago
    Your comment is a bit confusing. Matthias Rath is a real doctor who promotes nutritional quack "cures" for cancer and HIV. Here's one example: http://www.irinnews.org/fr/node/238092 http://www.irinnews.org/fr/node/238092 Where they say >>the report noted confusion about the role of nutrition in HIV, which was being exacerbated by a dual system of medicine regulation that subjected "Western" medicine to much more rigorous controls than complementary medicines, such as immune boosters and nutritional supplements. They're alluding to Matthias Rath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Rath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Rath
  - enraged_camel 10y ago
    Dentists are not "toned down" surgeons. They are specialized surgeons. Other types of surgeons can't perform non-routine dental surgery because they lack the know-how.
phren0logy 10y ago
I think that's an important part of this problem.
cptskippy 10y ago
I personally don't hold dietician in any higher regard than nutritionists. My mom had a dietician as a next door neighbor. This lady was never seen without a 1 liter big gulp filled with diet soda. We had her family over for Thanksgiving one year; Mom puts on a big show with white table cloths, fine china, crystal, etc. They all showed up with big gulps and even went home to get some diet soda when they ran low because we only had regular. The kicker was this lady didn't eat vegetables. Only bread, meat and diet soda.
- criddell 10y ago
  Even though she doesn't eat well, it doesn't mean she doesn't know a lot about nutrition.
  - logfromblammo 10y ago
    Who wants to take advice from a hypocrite? It would be like a dental hygienist that didn't floss, or a personal trainer that never did squats, or an arms control advocate with armed bodyguards, or an envronmentalist that never separates recyclables from the garbage.
    - criddell 10y ago
      Is a fat dietitian more of a hypocrite than, say, an out of shape football coach?
      - logfromblammo 10y ago
        Neither is necessarily a hypocrite. You can't really tell until they open their mouths and speak. It is likely that the coach was not out of shape at a time when they participated in competitive team sports. But a football coach that had never suffered a severe sports injury commanding players to "hit harder"? That's some hypocrisy right there. The fat dietitian might be self-experimenting to support they hypothesis that their fat-loss diet plan works (at n=1), or becoming familiar with the effects of various unhealthy eating habits. But we weren't talking about a fat dietitian. It was a dietitian that apparently does not eat vegetables.
cesarb 10y ago
That sounded strange for me, since every time I've visited a hospital, it was a nutritionist that prescribed the diet for every patient. So I looked at the Wikipedia link from another comment; it seems that the terminology varies depending on the country. Here in Brazil, "nutricionista" (which translates as nutritionist) is the protected professional designation, and only they can prescribe diets for hospital patients.

wlesieutre 10y ago

The analogy I've heard is that "nutritionist" is to dietician as "toothologist" is to dentist. One of them is a medical profession with required education and certifications, the other is not.

frenchy 10y ago
This is a bad analogy. Nobody calls themselves a "toothologist". The reason is pertinent as well: dentists are basically toned down surgeons, and (in North America) you're not allowed to practice as a dentist without the training because of the harm you can cause. You're not going to get HIV/Hepatitis from a nutritionist, you can from a shitty dentist. Edit: a good analogy would probably be a licensed counselor/therapist vs and unlicensed one.
- DanBC 10y ago
  Your comment is a bit confusing. Matthias Rath is a real doctor who promotes nutritional quack "cures" for cancer and HIV. Here's one example: http://www.irinnews.org/fr/node/238092 http://www.irinnews.org/fr/node/238092 Where they say >>the report noted confusion about the role of nutrition in HIV, which was being exacerbated by a dual system of medicine regulation that subjected "Western" medicine to much more rigorous controls than complementary medicines, such as immune boosters and nutritional supplements. They're alluding to Matthias Rath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Rath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Rath
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  Dentists are not "toned down" surgeons. They are specialized surgeons. Other types of surgeons can't perform non-routine dental surgery because they lack the know-how.

phren0logy 10y ago

I think that's an important part of this problem.

cptskippy 10y ago

I personally don't hold dietician in any higher regard than nutritionists. My mom had a dietician as a next door neighbor. This lady was never seen without a 1 liter big gulp filled with diet soda. We had her family over for Thanksgiving one year; Mom puts on a big show with white table cloths, fine china, crystal, etc. They all showed up with big gulps and even went home to get some diet soda when they ran low because we only had regular. The kicker was this lady didn't eat vegetables. Only bread, meat and diet soda.

criddell 10y ago
Even though she doesn't eat well, it doesn't mean she doesn't know a lot about nutrition.
- logfromblammo 10y ago
  Who wants to take advice from a hypocrite? It would be like a dental hygienist that didn't floss, or a personal trainer that never did squats, or an arms control advocate with armed bodyguards, or an envronmentalist that never separates recyclables from the garbage.
  - criddell 10y ago
    Is a fat dietitian more of a hypocrite than, say, an out of shape football coach?
    - logfromblammo 10y ago
      Neither is necessarily a hypocrite. You can't really tell until they open their mouths and speak. It is likely that the coach was not out of shape at a time when they participated in competitive team sports. But a football coach that had never suffered a severe sports injury commanding players to "hit harder"? That's some hypocrisy right there. The fat dietitian might be self-experimenting to support they hypothesis that their fat-loss diet plan works (at n=1), or becoming familiar with the effects of various unhealthy eating habits. But we weren't talking about a fat dietitian. It was a dietitian that apparently does not eat vegetables.

cesarb 10y ago

That sounded strange for me, since every time I've visited a hospital, it was a nutritionist that prescribed the diet for every patient. So I looked at the Wikipedia link from another comment; it seems that the terminology varies depending on the country. Here in Brazil, "nutricionista" (which translates as nutritionist) is the protected professional designation, and only they can prescribe diets for hospital patients.