I remember the moment I realized I wanted to become a Dietitian. I was thinking about soup. I spent my entire day thinking about the soup I planned to make for dinner, and it was all I thought about. As I pondered different ingredients and different vegetables to add in, I realized I wanted to know what happened to food as I ate it. I wanted to know what happened in my body, and why vegetables were so good for me. I found myself frustrated that I didn’t know the why of what happens to foods when I ate them. That set me on the path to become a Registered Dietitian.
Registered Dietitian, and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist are protected titles. Only someone who has met the prequalifications and passed the exam for the Commission on Dietetic Registry exam is able to call themselves a Registered Dietitian. Currently, this requires a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and the completion of an accredited, supervised 1200 hour internship; starting in 2024, a Master’s Degree will be required to sit for the exam. Dietitians are also required to complete continuing education throughout their careers, with a minimum of 75 Continuing Education units every 5 years. We are ethically obligated to practice evidence based nutrition methods.
I often get asked, “So you're a nutritionist, right?” I answer in the affirmative, but there’s so much more to it. If you had a foot problem, you would most likely ask your doctor to refer you to see someone who specializes in feet, a podiatrist. You wouldn't ask to see a cardiologist, nephrologist, or audiologist, right? Those are specialties that focus on certain parts of the body. The same is true with what we do. Dietitians are in essence food specialists. Food, nutrition, and the ways that food interact with health and health goals are all within a dietitians scope of practice. Dietitians are jack-of-all sciences. We study chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, as well as physiology, business and food sciences before we are sent out to our internships, where we put everything we learned into practice.
At the base of it all, Dietitians love food. We love eating food, planning food, and talking about food. Some of us dream about food (guilty). Our families get tired of hearing about the nutrient profiles of our dinners, and friends either come to us with food questions or hide what they’re eating when we walk by. We love food, so if you come to see us for help, we’ll help you keep eating. Because after all, food should be fun!
1) https://www.eatright.org/food/resources/learn-more-about-rdns/qualifications-of-a-registered-dietitian-nutritionist
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