Choosing a dietitian-nutritionist to lose weight is not an easy task for many reasons. Unlike other health professionals, the dietician-nutritionist (if he is a good professional) will know in depth the lifestyle and consumption habits of his patients, their relationship with food, the conflicts with their own body throughout the day. throughout life and so many other details that on many occasions it is delicate to share with a stranger. A good dietitian-nutritionist must be, in short, like a good psychologist: someone with whom we feel comfortable enough (and that is usually a question of chemistry in the end) and who knows how to accompany the patient firmly but also with empathy along a path – that of weight loss in a society that constantly invites the opposite – which is probably not easy to navigate.
We have spoken with some nutrition professionals about what qualities should be taken into account when choosing a dietitian-nutritionist and they have talked about pseudosciences, toxic relationships, therapies without a scientific basis and other aspects that should be weighed beforehand. to opt for one nutritionist or another.
This maxim can be applied to both a dietitian-nutritionist and a professional in any field, not just health. It is explained by Beatriz Robles, a graduate in Food Science and Technology, a graduate in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and a professor at the Isabel I University. “There are only two titles that endorse a nutrition and dietetics professional and they are, on the one hand , the Higher Technician in Dietetics, which is a professional degree, and on the other hand the university degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, nothing else is worth it, neither holistic nutrition, nor nutritional advisor, nor nutritional coach…”, assures Robles, which urges checking that this professional is registered with a professional association. “This certification will not necessarily save you from malpractice, but it is a necessary – although not sufficient – ??condition that should be taken into account.”
The dietician-nutritionist Fátima Branco agrees with her, who regrets that hers is a profession with great intrusion and adds that endocrine doctors can also prescribe a diet. “It is important to keep in mind that neither a family doctor nor a digestive system specialist is authorized to prescribe a diet. Only an endocrinology specialist can do so, and unfortunately old practices are still used, such as giving you a diet of 1,500 calories whether you are 20 years old or 40, regardless of your lifestyle habits and personal circumstances. These types of diets are already destined to fail, with some exceptions,” explains Branco.
The dietitian-nutritionist also questions the trend of Ozempic, a weight loss medication that only a doctor can prescribe. “The Ozempic fever has reached a point where in many consultations they simply ask for some tests and if they are fine they prescribe it. This is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. For someone to lose weight and keep it off, a further process is required. profound, a change in habits, the incorporation of healthy routines such as exercise and a new way of understanding the relationship with food. This cannot be achieved with a pill,” explains Branco. However, “it is not surprising that it is devastating, because we live in a contradictory society. In a system that on the one hand constantly encourages you to eat and generates high-calorie foods, linking food with pleasure and enjoyment of life, and on the other hand, the other presents thin bodies more than ever as an ideal of beauty. How to combine both things? With the search for quick and miraculous solutions that no nutrition professional should advise,” concludes the specialist.
Along the same lines, Robles invites us to avoid diets that he calls “with a surname.” “Macrobiotic, orthomolecular… It is advisable to be well informed before putting yourself in the hands of one of these professionals, because often people do not know what they are getting into,” explains Robles. In fact, the macrobiotic diet has just been included in the new reports of the Plan for the Protection of Health against Pseudotherapies, which has just been published by the Ministry of Health. This type of diet, along with Thai massage, static magnetotherapy or spiritual healing, are considered pseudotherapies that lack the necessary scientific evidence to support their effectiveness and safety.
In this section, Robles also includes “some mentions that sound scientific but are pure pseudoscience, sometimes practiced by registered professionals who have decided to redirect their careers towards this type of therapies.” This is the case of “the so-called orthomolecular nutrition or psychoneuroimmunology or PNI, which lack scientific support.” In any case, “when a dietician-nutritionist drifts towards this type of practices he usually advertises it a lot, so it is easy to detect them.”
A good nutrition professional always makes it clear in the first sessions what his or her goals are and how he or she plans to achieve them. “It is advisable to doubt anyone who does not explain their methodology to us. What their work is going to consist of, how they are going to focus their treatment, what objectives they set, how often the sessions are going to be done or what the price of each one are some of the things that we must be clear about from the beginning,” explains Robles.
Once the proposal has been heard, it is very important that the patient agrees, since if this consensus does not exist from the beginning, the diet will most likely fail. “The client must always agree and make sure that the diet adapts to their tastes, preferences, lifestyle and even their financial resources.”
“A dietitian-nutritionist does not sell products or prescribe medications because we cannot, we are not authorized to do so. Neither enemas, nor herbal therapies or any other product. I insist: the only way to lose weight in a sustained way and never have to go back more to the consultation of a dietitian-nutritionist is to change habits at the root,” explains Branco. This requires close and personalized support and attention, in some cases also from the hand of a psychology professional, but never the consumption of extra products (generally very expensive) to help with the goal of losing weight as quickly as possible.
It is likely that a patient comes to a consultation through a recommendation and realizes that the nutritionist in question, even if he is an accredited and reliable professional, does not fit his needs. It is explained by Núria Monfulleda, from the Loveyourself center in Barcelona. “To give an example, a raw vegan patient will have to go to a professional specialized in this type of diet, otherwise they are likely to fail. This also implies honesty on the part of nutrition professionals: if someone comes to my consultation who If you want to go on a protein diet to lose a lot of weight very quickly, I will say no, because my way of understanding weight loss is different.
Dietitian-nutritionist Sandra Moñino, CEO of the Nutriciónate clinic, specialist in anti-inflammatory diet and weight loss, thinks the same. “If the patient suffers from a certain disease or has a specific objective, he should look at the experience that the professional has: if he is specialized and has experience in this specific need.”
Not with the nutritionist, not with anyone. For Moñino, it is essential to escape from that old-school way of doing things in which the nutritionist allowed himself to scold and punish patients. “When I started consulting, many patients told me ‘but scold me, because otherwise I won’t do it well.’ And they asked me to punish them by going hungry that week for not having met the objectives at a certain time. For me, if a nutritionist scolds you, which was very common before, is reason enough to stop going to your doctor’s office. This relationship is not what you should have with a patient,” explains Moñino. This professional insists that “our obligation is to prescribe a type of diet that motivates, that is enjoyable, that can be shared with the family and that leads to good health. If that happens, weight loss will end up arriving in the “if that’s the goal.”
A good diet is always one in which you do not go hungry. “We professionals have to ensure that the patient feels as comfortable as possible, accompanied and happy. This will make him adhere well to the plan, because if he is hungry and having a bad time, he will not want to continue following the diet. And with all the right,” says Moñino. In this sense, he adds that “excessively restrictive diets tend to be very inflammatory, which is related to a multitude of chronic pathologies that exist today and that should be avoided.”
For Monfulleda, it is important that the work of the nutrition professional is documented and can be found easily. “Have a website where you include your training, your professional experience, your methodology and, above all, it is important that you have reviews from your patients, even negative ones. If there are negative reviews and the professional has made an effort to respond, trying to share and present their arguments is always a sign that someone is involved and active.