13 signs of a poor dietitian: expert opinion

Any woman knows that she needs to lose weight under the supervision of a specialist. Especially when it comes to serious weight loss. If you are worried about 3-4 extra pounds, you can deal with them yourself. But the stable "surplus" over 5 kilograms is better to drive out of the body together with a nutritionist. At the same time, the choice of a conductor on the way to the desired figure must be approached very responsibly. A nutritionist is a doctor who is obliged to follow the principles of medical ethics in his work. In order not to run into a homebrew expert and not undermine your health with "author's weight loss programs", pay attention to 13 signs that are given by pseudo-experts in the field of nutrition.

When to see a dietitian

Every woman has her own history of fighting overweight. For some, these are sprint races for short distances, when you need to lose a couple of kilos before a vacation or summer season. For some, the battle with extra pounds stretches into a lifelong marathon with periodic breakdowns and stops on the way to ideal weight. If you belong to the first group, and in general you are more or less satisfied with the figure, this is a good sign. You soberly assess yourself and the characteristics of your body, and to adjust your weight, you just need to slightly change your diet. This can be done online, but not through diets. Look for the right qualified books and change

Nutritionist Helps Change Eating Behavior / istockphoto.com

If you belong to the second group and always strive for an unattainable ideal, you need a specialist. Very often, being overweight is based on psychological aspects and eating disorders (EID). Such "bells" can only be noticed by a professional nutritionist who is specially trained in the diagnosis and treatment of RPD. At the same time, the doctor's task is not to help you lose extra pounds, but to find and rebuild disruptions in your behavior that block weight loss. That is why you cannot run to any of the specialists, guided by the advice of a friend or pretentious reviews on social networks. Ideally, a physician or gastroenterologist should refer you to a dietitian.

How to choose a good nutritionist

First of all, when visiting a nutritionist, you need to inquire about his qualifications. This is very important given the fact that today there are a lot of courses (even online) where you can get the crust of a nutritionist. Don't confuse the two specializations. A nutritionist is not a doctor, but an expert on balanced nutrition. A good nutritionist understands the composition of foods, the different ways of preparing them, and the effect on the body of each individual product or their combination. He can compose the optimal diet for the client based on the actual and desired weight. However, without a medical background, it will be difficult for such an expert to work with eating disorders.

A dietitian can't force you to lose weight / istockphoto.com

The right nutritionist is necessarily a doctor. He must have a medical school diploma and a certificate of completion of additional training in the field of dietetics. However, even these papers cannot insure you against falling into charlatans who are either bad are guided in the basics of their profession, or (even worse) use work for personal purposes enrichment. Nutritionist and Medical Journalist Elena Motova highlighted the main features of such pseudo-specialists. If your doctor has seen at least one of them, feel free to slam the office door and look for another nutritionist.

Dietitians are not allowed to advertise medications / istockphoto.com

So, according to all international codes of ethics of a medical specialist a nutritionist should never:

• to give the patient diagnoses that do not exist in medical practice (hormonal imbalance, leaky gut syndrome, chronic dysbiosis, parasitosis, insulin resistance, chronic candidiasis, heavy metal intoxication)
• advise express weight loss programs, curative fasting or too harsh low calorie diets. The optimal rate of weight loss in dietetics is considered to be a rate of no more than a kilogram per week. Anything from above - from a medical point of view, can harm your body
• recommend and even more so sell your own, "copyright" weight loss programs
• make the client feel guilty about being overweight (the so-called body shaming) and thus stimulate him to visit the doctor more often
• to guarantee weight loss, keeping within certain deadlines
• post on the Internet (on your website, on personal pages in social networks) photos of your patients "before" and "after" (even with the consent of clients)
• conduct all kinds of marathons and massive weight loss programs "under the daily supervision of a doctor" on their Internet sites
• offer "cosmetic correction" of weight if the patient does not need it
• advertise certain drugs as the only remedy for excess weight
• prescribe for regular and mandatory intake of dietary supplements, vitamins, nutritional supplements, or a specific food product (for example, one avocado a day or three pineapple rings for breakfast)
• directly or indirectly participate in the sale of medicines, dietary supplements or vitamin supplements
• advertise highly processed products (which have more than 5 ingredients in their composition) and encourage the client's desire to eat such products, assuring them that they are harmless
• give advice and recommendations to your subscribers in the blog or on pages in social networks. Even a photo of a person with a detailed description of the problem does not give real grounds for making the correct diagnosis and prescribing treatment.
• give clients unscientific advice that is not supported by evidence. For example, “drink at least two liters of clean water daily”, “do not drink food”, “bananas lead to diabetes”, “stop eating after 6 pm”.

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