Welcome back! For today’s blog topic, I thought it might be nice to talk a bit about the differences between a dietitian and a nutritionist and why you would choose one over the other.

Let’s start with identifying what a nutritionist is. First, it’s sort of a non-specific word that identifies anyone who has some knowledge about nutrition. So, for example, you may speak with someone called a nutritionist at a health food store or at the gym. Sometimes the person has a degree in nutrition and sometimes they don’t. In a professional setting, a nutritionist might be someone who was trained after being hired at their position.

Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. Let’s not gatekeep nutrition, after all. Someone who is trained after being hired or who has an interest in nutrition is certainly valid and may know some good information. However, there are no regulations governing who can and can’t call themselves a nutritionist, so you do want to ask yourself a few questions before you see one. Where did this person get their information from? What sort of background do they have in order to speak on the subject? And most importantly, do they have a vested interest in what they’re telling you? (This can also apply to Registered Dietitians as well, but I’ll get to that later.)

For example, is the nutritionist who is telling you to take creatine supplements to help with muscle building in a partnership with a creatine supplement company? Or where did the person telling you about the keto diet get their information? Did they take the time to look at what studies have said and are providing you with research backed information? How do you even tell?

Both ethically and legally, anyone who is sponsoring a product has to disclose that information, especially if this person is a content creator, but it might still be good practice to ask if they are getting any money for the products they’re recommending. If it turns out that they are, you may want to take their advice with a grain of salt. Also keep in mind that nutritionists may not ask about your medical history and therefore, before starting a new diet or supplement, you may want to speak with a healthcare provider. I should also point out that just because someone is being sponsored, does not mean their information is inaccurate or that you shouldn’t listen to anything they say. However, it is important that they maintain transparency with their audience, so if they’re not providing that information up front, then they may be someone you’d want to steer clear of.

One pretty surefire way to sus out whether someone is providing researched backed information is how they present that information. Anyone who claims to have all the answers or claims you can achieve miraculous gains or losses by doing “this one thing” is likely not providing accurate information, and is just selling you on something.

The truth of the matter is that there is no one right way to do something. Some people may do well eating one way, while another may do better eating something else. No diet is perfect, and no diet or exercise program will work for everyone. In today’s age of social media, titles are often chosen to get you to click on them. Again, just because a nutritionist is utilizing a clickbait title, doesn’t mean that the information they’re providing is invalid, but you would want to look into what they’re saying and how they’re saying it to really understand whether they’re a credible source of information.

Ok, so then what exactly is a dietitian and why would you choose pay more to see one instead of just going to a nutritionist or following a content creator?

First and foremost a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) goes through a lot of schooling and takes a registration exam, much like nurses, doctors, and pharmacists do. Starting this year, all new RDNs will be required to have a master’s degree, but even prior to that, a bachelor’s degree was required before entering into an internship. The internship process that a dietitian goes through is also very rigorous. There are only so many spots available across the country and many people each year fail to be placed in an internship and have to wait until the following year to apply again.

So, when you’re seeing an RDN, you’re seeing someone who was able to win a highly competitive spot in an internship. In order to do so, they had to have a certain GPA in college, had to have a certain amount of experience (either paid or volunteer) in the field of nutrition, and had to pass the interview process to be matched with an internship. And now moving forward, a lot of dietitians will also have to have gone through the process of getting their master’s degree in order to qualify to take the registration exam.

Having taken the registration exam myself, I can tell you, it’s not an easy exam to pass, so if you’re seeing someone with an RDN at the end of their name, you’re seeing a person who really knows their stuff. And on top of having to become registered, we have to keep up with current nutrition research and education. Continuing education credits are required to keep our registration active. If you fail to do that and let your registration lapse, then in order to become an RDN again, you have to go through the internship and exam process all over again. This means that an RDN is keeping up with the newest research to provide you with the most up to date information.

Once you become and RDN, you are governed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), which has a code of ethics all dietitians must follow. If we break those rules, we run the risk of losing our registration. So, remember that it’s unethical for a nutritionist not to disclose a conflict of interest, such as selling the supplements they’re recommending, but for an RDN, not disclosing a conflict of interest can get them in trouble with both the AND and FTC, and they may lose their registration.

Another thing that sets dietitians apart from nutritionists is the specialties we choose. Much like a physician, an RDN typically will focus on a specific area of nutrition. For example, they may choose to get additional credentialing as a diabetes educator, or an ICU specialist, or a bariatric surgery specialist. When I got my first job as an RDN, I worked for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. I worked there for 12 years and by the end of those 12 years, I knew a lot about pregnancy, lactation, and children up to age 5 (the cutoff for the WIC program.)

When I went to graduate school, I decided I wanted to pivot the direction I was taking, so I opted to take classes that focused on obesity, diet culture, and genetics. My favorite class in graduate school was the genetics course. Maybe I’ll write more about it in a blog some day because it is truly fascinating. But since my focus in graduate school was on obesity and dieting, I now know a lot of information about the subject. What I learned in graduate school is the reason why I’ve chosen to dedicate my private practice business to helping people break free from diet culture.

So, what are the take aways from all of this information? In short, a nutritionist is not regulated by anyone, outside of the FTC requiring that they disclose paid content, and therefore it’s difficult to trust that the information they’re providing you isn’t biased or inaccurate. It requires a lot of research on your part to make sure that they’re a reputable source of information. An RDN, on the other hand, has gone through a lot of schooling and training, and is governed by the AND. We can only provide research backed information, are required to stay up to date on what the current research is saying, and are the people who passed the rigorous internship process and passed the registration exam.

My goal with this blog post isn’t to sway you into only seeing dietitians, although I am of course biased in that area, but rather to clear up the confusion on the differences between a nutritionist and a dietitian. I hope you found this information helpful. If you wish to hear more from me, please feel free to subscribe below.