Q: Where should I go for advice on nutrition?

A: First, a definition is needed. Nutrition has been defined as the provision to cells and organisms of the materials necessary (in the form of food) to support life. I especially like that definition because it emphasizes food, with no mention of supplements, which are greatly overused by our population.

For nutrition advice, I have always referred patients to dietitians registered by the American Dietetic Association. Dietitians are highly trained professionals who are not only capable of educating patients on nutrition but are also able to evaluate the nutritional status of critically ill patients and develop nutritional plans that might include tube or intravenous feedings. Their training makes them capable of incorporating a patients nutritional needs with their medical conditions. Their training requires a bachelor's degree or higher degree in nutrition and dietetics, a lengthy supervised internship, rigorous examinations and fulfillment of state licensure requirements before they are able to practice their specialty.

They are required to complete continuing professional educational requirements to maintain their registration. They also have a published code of ethics that specifically states that they do not engage in false or misleading practices, false or deceptive advertising of their services and do not promote or endorse specific goods or products in a manner that is false and misleading.

Countering this academic and scientific profession is a group of sham and media nutritionists who hold themselves out to the public as qualified in nutrition and dietetics but who do not practice on the basis of nutrition science or standards of conduct observed by ethical practitioners.

Nutritional therapy has become big business. Therapists have been known to charge considerable fees for bad advice, and often prescribe expensive, unnecessary supplements as well. Some even profit further by selling supplements directly to their clients. Some of their educational programs require knowledge of worthless evaluation techniques such as homeopathic interrogation, acupuncture meridian interrogation, kinesiology, chelation therapy, herbology, reflexology and electromagnetic frequency.

Some nutritionists use worthless tests such as hair analysis, muscle-strength testing (applied kinesiology), iridology, electronic body scanning devices, computerized dietary questionnaires, herbal crystallization analysis, live cell analysis, sublingual tests and others to convince their clients that they need dietary supplements. Working with a nutritionist who believes in any of the above or recommends any of the above evaluations should encourage one to seek a second opinion from their physician or from a registered dietitian.

The worst of these unqualified nutritionists obtain their credentials from diploma mills or from non-accredited schools. Some obtain a nutrition degree only by correspondence courses, which are inadequate for such critical work.

A recent study published in the magazine of Britains largest consumer organization involved sending undercover researchers to visit nutrition therapists. Each researcher presented the nutrition therapist with a different problem and the nutritionists recommendations were evaluated by a panel of experts. The experts noted that at least a third of the nutritionists gave bad advice, that diagnoses were made that were inaccurate and that unproven testing procedures were ordered. They also noted that two-thirds of the therapists prescribed expensive supplements and directed their clients to particular pharmacies, a move not in their clients interest.

Those in search of a registered dietitian can visit the American Dietetic Associations website, http://www.eatright.org

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Need nutrition info? Try a registered dietitian