I was just wondering. It's just that I've seen several posts from people who have extenuating circumstances in life who need a meal plan created for them and they are forced to go to a "normal" nutritionist. Like people in rehab for eating disorders or maybe folks who want to be able to tell their family that their food plan has been approved by a legitimate nutritionist.
It would help to know what resources we have available in our community and we could also help to create business for our people who are in this line of work. All the nutritionists I've every known have a strong personal bias of their own flavor. One just loved tofu, another ate meat at every meal.
Thanks!
Replies
Star Khechara is a nutritionist. She has a good facebook page 'fruit4beauty' and an account on 30BaD, as well as some youtubes.
I work at a somewhat prestigious alternative medical school, but am an office worker only, with no degree. Am keeping a bit quiet about my 811 eating until I have visually obvious weight loss. But if and when that should happen in a big way, I will not hesitate to advocate for more attention to it here and discuss more freely with the faculty and students I know.
Would love to get speaker here on campus about the topic some day. Many of our students are interested in sports medicine and nutrition.
Right now, as a newbie who still eats a cooked vegan dinner and is overweight, I would be a bad commercial if I discussed it too much during this honeymoon phase.
Hi,
I got a BSc Nitrition degree, current doing MSc by Research in UK.
@Dovima,
You might have to friend and ask Adam. The last I knew, he was a student of nutrition, not necessarily certified to work professionally. (Sorry Adam if I am wrong here.)
*****
In some areas, people in dire circumstances are required to get help via certified professionals. If one just wants to discuss nutrition, there are lay people, nurses, and other professionals that can be of assistance. If one is under forced medical supervision, the local authorities may require certified nutritionists.
It would be wonderful to see who amongst us is already certified and practicing.
Peace, PK
Hey PK
I am both a post-grad student and a qualified practitioner. I am doing an MSc. I am a nutritional therapist and not a dietician though; My clinical training took place in private clinics and not in a hospital based environment. In the UK, dieticians are the only state-regulated nutrition professional that is allowed to work with those who are undergoing enforced medical intervention for an eating disorder. This is because there are standards and guidelines that need to be followed, and poor compliance with diet and medical support may necessitate hospitalisation, where it is important that nutrition professionals have hospital based clinical training and experience.
This isn't an area I want to work in, and I chose not to train as a dietician for a reason. I think they do a great and important job. But it isn't what I wish to do.
In terms of eating disorders, which was one of the examples given by Dovima, I would not be willing to work with someone who had an active eating disorder or a recent history of significant eating disorder, whilst having them on a lfrv diet. I realise that some people report that their disordered eating and relationship with food has improved on this diet, but many people with significant eating disorders are very deceptive and may use this to continue their disordered eating patterns. There is a large continuum in terms of severity of eating disorders. And a large portion of that scale I wouldn't feel comfortable keeping on a lfrv diet. I think that there is a real danger of death and professional negligence in encouraging people with ED to eat this way.
I am still very much of the opinion that this is a dietary experiment. And as with all dietary experiments, I think that a degree of psychological wellness is important in order to be able to make an informed and rational choice to eat this diet in a way that is healthful, rather than self-abusive. Additionally, capacity to eat and physical health/ED-induced nutritional deficiencies may mean that a diet that excludes different food groups could be potentially detrimental to someones chances of health recovery from an ED.
It is important to be clear that when someone is under a certain age, their parents and their doctors have the right to ensure that competent professionals support those who are at risk of harming themselves. And regardless of age, when someone is a real danger to themselves, there is a statutory obligation to intervene on behalf of the individuals wellbeing. I think it is right that people consult with dieticians if they have an eating disorder, rather than just someone from the internet who is interested in nutrition. And I think that a good dietician will permit someone to eat a vegan diet if they insist that they are ethically motivated, but they will not permit someone to eat a low fat raw vegan diet. Not all dieticians will support a vegan diet, but as with all healthcare providers, you can always ask for a different professional or a second opinion.
In terms of my own practice, I am permitted to work with those who have eating disorders, if they are working alongside their GP, as long as they are not undergoing statutory care or dietetics support. Usually these would be recovering or lower end of the scale in severity of ED. I would absolutely not be allowed to encourage people to eat a lfrv diet though. And as I have said before, I wouldn't want to do that either. I would consider it unethical.
If they are under the care of a dietician, or are supposed to be, then I don't work with them at all. Generally those who are under the regular care of a dietician, especially those who must receive dietetic and medical support, are higher end cases. And I don't think it is in my best interests, nor those of the individual, to receive support from anyone but medical professionals.
I think there is a stark difference between offering personal support as one human to another, either in person or over the internet, and offering professional support. And ethical and legal considerations have to be made when thinking about working with someone with an ED.
So personally, whilst I am happy to offer support to those who do not have an active ED, but are interested in getting information about how to increase the likelihood that their diet will be nutritionally sufficient and hopefully reduce the potential risks of eating a diet that excludes many of the standard food groups, I wouldn't want to be added to a list of people on this forum who could offer an alternative to statutory dietetics support. Because that is something I am not willing to offer. I don' see what I offer as a replacement for medical support, especially where it is a statutory requirement.
Take care
Adam x
@Adam,
Thanks for sharing what you do exactly and your concerns, especially in the care of those with EDs.
Another question for you though. Would you be willing to work with people in the UK on the other end of the spectrum such as obese people needing to lose weight, diabetics, cancer patients, etc? You probably already know, but many overweight people are actually malnourished and or have deficiencies too for various reason.
I do believe this diet to be one of the better one out there as it focuses on nutrient dense plant based nutrition and plants high in vitamin C verses some of the more deficient plant products such as grains. For those interested in increasing fats and proteins, nuts are always available and avocados too. One does not necessarily have to revert to eating things like meat to increase those nutrients.
Peace, PK
Hey PK
Well, I think that cancer is not in the same ball park as obesity and diabetes. Obesity and diabetes are two of the most common health complaints that people I work with experience. Cancer - I can support people who have cancer, if they are engaging with their GP and I work with the GP and consultant, but this is to offer nutritional support, not to act as a therapy or alternative to treatment. It is illegal to offer non-medical interventions to cancer patients as a replacement for standard treatment.
And I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it - there is no evidence based nutritional approach to cancer treatment (ie. for nutrition as a cancer therapy), so I wouldn't want to get someones hopes up.
As regards this diet and specific applications, I wouldn't promote this diet to anyone as an ideal diet for long term health because there is no research available to support this. I see this diet as a voluntary social experiment, where people choose to be guinea pigs to try something that could be potentially useful for the planet, if successful. I always encourage people to eat high raw diets, and high plant based diets, but I wouldn't tell anyone they should try this diet for long term health improvements. However if they are interested already in following the diet and want to find a way to make it sustainable for them, and to be nutritionally sufficient, then I will support them. In terms of raw foods, I would only really be interested in supporting people to eat this diet professionally, if they are already interested in and commited to trying the diet, with the focus on trying to maximise the potential for a nutritionally sufficient diet and increase the potential for a positive, rather than a negative outcome in the experiment. I am not interested in recruiting people to act as guinea pigs as much as supporting those who are already interested to attempt to do it intelligently.
Personally, I love the results I get from the diet, and many people do the same. And I do think it is one of the most potentially valuable voluntary experiments we may be able to do - if the diet is varied, well planned and nuritionally sufficient, and if we are psychologically and physically ready and interested in following the diet. But I am not commited to persuading people it is definitely a safe/healthy diet long term, since we don't know that it is yet. If in 50 years time, we have lots of healthy OAP's thriving on the diet, I will review my position on this.
As regards eating meat, I agree. I am not of the opinion that it is necessary to consume animal products to obtain specific nutrients. I do believe that a well-planned, varied plant based diet can provide all the nutrients needed. I think that people are more likely to seek nutritional sufficiency from plant foods if they have an ethical motivation to remain vegan.
Regarding your specific reference to vitamin C, I guess that does depend on the specific foods - dates have no vitamin c for example, and bananas aren't that high in vitamin C. But other fruits can balance this out since most fruits are good sources.
Take care
Adam x
BTW, I featured this in hopes that we get a few more nibbles from any nutritionists.
Peace, PK
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