Diet professions page

[Kingofturtles]

Registered dietitian, nutritionalist, ect.. What exactly do you need to do to become one? Do they do their own studies or do they just read other studies? Is there anything to say that they must continue to do/read research after completing classes? I am curious as to why these people haven't given in to primal yet. Do they face the same restraints as doctors, where they have to preach a certain set of ideals?

[EyeOfRound]

Yes, you do have to do continuing education every year as an RD/nutritionist, just like any other profession in healthcare. Some will get involved in research of their own, but generally they do mostly community or hospital-based work. Nutrition research is more likely to be conducted in depth by biochemists or PhDs in nutrition.

[Drumroll]

I imagine if you start your own business as a registered dietician, you can preach whatever type of diet you want. On the other hand, if you work for a doctors office or a company that already exists, they may have certain dietary guidelines the dietitian/nutritionists have to use as a base for making recommendations and that means a loss of some of the freedom in making recommendations.

[primalrob]

i think a lot of nutritionists and medical professionals haven't adopted any ancestral health diet for a couple of reasons. firstly, it's still sort of a fringe movement (seen as the caveman diet), but gaining ground. secondly, and more importantly, is that most of the discussions are focused on why it's different than CW rather than where there are similarities.
if you tell a doctor or a nutritionist that you eat all whole foods, organic and non GMO when you can, mostly vegetables, a quality piece of meat, and a few carbs from veggies, fruit and potatoes, but avoid sugar and grains, that doctor/nutritionist is going to give you a medal. but if you start off by saying you put butter on everything, including your breakfast of bacon and coffee, they're going to give you lipitor.
people need to stop seeing ancestral health as a 180 from CW, and start looking at is as a shift to natural foods instead.

[Loneketo]

i think a lot of nutritionists and medical professionals haven't adopted any ancestral health diet for a couple of reasons. firstly, it's still sort of a fringe movement (seen as the caveman diet), but gaining ground. secondly, and more importantly, is that most of the discussions are focused on why it's different than CW rather than where there are similarities.
if you tell a doctor or a nutritionist that you eat all whole foods, organic and non GMO when you can, mostly vegetables, a quality piece of meat, and a few carbs from veggies, fruit and potatoes, but avoid sugar and grains, that doctor/nutritionist is going to give you a medal. but if you start off by saying you put butter on everything, including your breakfast of bacon and coffee, they're going to give you lipitor.
people need to stop seeing ancestral health as a 180 from CW, and start looking at is as a shift to natural foods instead.

It is a large shift. Grains are the most recommended food by FDA. Just by eliminating grains we are considered lunatics, weirdos, unhuman. Then dairy is nearly eliminated, then calcium ranting begins. They think you will wither away. Tell them meat is your staple in your diet along with generous amounts of fat, and they tell you your arteries will clog and you'll die. Tell them you eat only sweet potatoes and they are left in shock. And last time I checked FDA doesn't really say eating food filled with chemicals and additives is bad. Bagged chicken is considered healthy even though the carbohydrates are from all the processing of chemicals and nearly all fat is stripped clean of it.

Saying it's not a big difference is almost saying CW is healthy.

[Owly]

I agree with primalrob. My partner's doctor commented that we eat far healthier than at least 95% of her patients. She's not a paleo doctor, so why would she say this? It's because both of us start the conversation about food with how we eat lots of vegetables, local meats, fish, fruit, healthy fats like avocados, and now and then a little rice. Tell a doctor or nutritionist that and they will think you are a paragon of health, especially if you also describe your fitness routine as "lots of walking, regular weightlifting sessions, and some conditioning work like sprinting."

I think there are more dieticians and nutritionists out there that think that ancestral eating is a good idea than most people, even those professionals themselves, might realize. You will rarely meet one who thinks that a piece of multigrain bread is a better choice than a sweet potato--it's all in how you frame the conversation.

[Neckhammer]

For what its worth Dr. Chestnut's book and the continuing education for the chiropractic community (in pursuit of certified wellness practitioner) is all ancestral/paleo nutrition. He just terms it the "Innate Diet" instead, but he cites all the original research....so in terms of a book it has much better references. The Innate Dietâ. Admittedly, chiropractic is more open to alternative theory and exploring a variety of options in the realm of health care.

[Loneketo]

I agree with primalrob. My partner's doctor commented that we eat far healthier than at least 95% of her patients. She's not a paleo doctor, so why would she say this? It's because both of us start the conversation about food with how we eat lots of vegetables, local meats, fish, fruit, healthy fats like avocados, and now and then a little rice. Tell a doctor or nutritionist that and they will think you are a paragon of health, especially if you also describe your fitness routine as "lots of walking, regular weightlifting sessions, and some conditioning work like sprinting."

I think there are more dieticians and nutritionists out there that think that ancestral eating is a good idea than most people, even those professionals themselves, might realize. You will rarely meet one who thinks that a piece of multigrain bread is a better choice than a sweet potato--it's all in how you frame the conversation.

So you completely leave out that you consume saturated fat without worrying about how much? The only unhealthy fat is trams fat, you make it seem to me that your just saying healthy fats do not include saturated fat.Just my thought

[RenegadeRN]

I agree with PrimalRob and Owly- it's about "playing to your audience".

So what if you happen to leave out the fact that saturated fat is on the menu? They don't want to hear it, and the info will trigger conflicts in them where they feel the need to totally forget the good things about your eating plan they JUST heard, and launch into CW mode. ...and we know THAT does no one any good!

Not to mention its a pain in the ass to hear.

[primalrob]

So you completely leave out that you consume saturated fat without worrying about how much? The only unhealthy fat is trams fat, you make it seem to me that your just saying healthy fats do not include saturated fat.Just my thought

i think you might be missing the point a little bit. does a primal/paleo/ancestral diet mean high fat? generally yes, but that's only in macronutrient measurements. but look at the actual food that gets eaten, or look at the primal food pyramid, and it is teeming with brightly colored vegetables and a side of meat. granted, those vegetables might be cooked in animal fat or have butter on them, but it's still great food to eat. vegggies, high quality protein sources, local food, and, like you said, no trans fat (an idea everybody can get behind). there are a lot of paths to good health.
this is where ancestral diets and CW come together. there are differences when it comes to grains, legumes, saturated fat, etc., but why focus on those? getting millions of people to change the way they've been thinking for sixty years isn't going to happen by telling them where they were wrong; it's going to happen by telling them where they were right and where they can learn more.