bite my words

Dispelling nutrition myths, ranting, and occasionally, raving

Tag Archives: dietitians


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Bad news for science: naturopaths get positive press

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The twitterverse was all abuzz the other day with the release of a journal article that found that patients who received counselling from naturopaths reduced their risk of heart disease significantly more than patients who only went to see a doctor.

Of course, a number of the authors of the paper reported potential conflicts of interest such as receiving funding from alternative medicine groups and naturopathic organizations. Naturally, they would have a vested interest in showing that there is a benefit to seeing a naturopath.

Doctors, unfortunately, are more often than not, ill-equipped to provide lifestyle and nutrition counselling. It seems pretty obvious that patients provided with an additional level of care would experience better outcomes than the patients who only met with their family doctors. This does not mean that all patients with elevated risk for cardiovascular disease should seek the help of a naturopath. It means that they should be receiving specialized nutrition and lifestyle counselling from a trained health care professional. Ideally, a dietitian as our advice is science-based and we do not promote homeopathic remedies.

The two things I get out of this study are: 1. patients with elevated risk for diseases which can be mitigated by lifestyle changes should receive counselling in the appropriate area(s), 2. doctors should be referring their patients to their appropriate counterparts in healthcare to supply that counselling. The fact that naturopaths were the providers of the counselling in this study is unimportant and gives the false impression to the public that naturopaths are a suitable alternative to doctors and dietitians.


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McDonald’s, dietitians, and ethics

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It was all over the news last week. McDonald’s Director of Nutrition (a dietitian) proclaiming that their food is healthy.

A part of me feels sorry for this poor woman. As a dietitian, I know how difficult it can be to find work in our field. It also made me sad to read her statement that she eats McDonald’s food 1-2 times a day and is already feeding foods from there to her two-year-old child. I understand that she has an obligation to make her employer look good. However, as a dietitian, I also find it incredibly distasteful that a fellow professional would be promoting McDonald’s as a healthy choice. Where does an RDs ethical responsibility lie? With his/her employer or with the public?

In the interview, Cindy Goody, the RD in question, mentions a couple of products that are served on buns made with 8 grams of whole grains. What the heck does this mean? Not much, actually. It just means that out of the total weight of ingredients in the bun, 8 grams of it is whole grain. An average bun is about 50-60 grams. That means that the remaining 42-52 grams are from other flour, sugar, and other ingredients that go into a bun. It doesn’t mean that the bun contains 8 grams of fibre. Not particularly impressive.

Goody also mentions that foods are being made healthier by reducing calories and sodium. As all you nutrition savvy people know, removing crap from an unhealthy food does not automatically make it healthy. You are still likely to be missing out on important nutrients (such as fibre, healthy fats, potassium, calcium, antioxidants, etc.) if you’re regularly eating from McDonald’s “healthy” menu options. Sure, there are better and worse choices you can make if you’re eating at McDonald’s but highly processed fast food is never going to be a match for a balanced, home-cooked meal.


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How a sweet potato sets the dietitians apart from the “nutritionists”

My friend recently alerted me to a blog written by a “certified sports nutritionist”. In Nova Scotia, “nutritionist” is a protected term, and can only be used by regulated health professionals. She previously reported him to the NSDA (our regulatory body) and he was forced to change his facebook page, however, it seems that his blog has yet to be changed.

It may seem that us dietitians are just trying to protect our jobs. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t factor into our frustration with non-dietitians referring to themselves as nutritionists. We spend four years in university and the better part of another year completing internships. Of course we don’t want people who have completed a short online course marketing themselves as being equally knowledgeable.

If you read this guy’s post on sweet potatoes you can see a glimpse into why the regulation of nutrition professionals is necessary. Yes, sweet potatoes are a lovely food, both delicious and packed with nutrients. However, unlike he tells you, vitamin D is not one of the many nutrients in sweet potatoes. The only foods that contain vitamin D are some animal products (such as egg yolks and fish) and fortified foods. As far as I’m aware, sweet potatoes are not fortified with any nutrients. I think he may have confused vitamin D with vitamin A. This error alone isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s not the only one in this post (sweet potatoes are not a good source of iron, nor of vitamin B6). If he’s providing this much incorrect information in one blog post alone I fear how much misinformation he’s providing to his clients.

As appealing as the idea of getting your fitness and nutrition advice from one person is there are very few professionals who are sufficiently educated in both areas to be able to provide you with both. Before you commit to obtaining nutrition counselling from an individual I suggest you do some research to be certain that they’re adequately educated in the field. For them to be held accountable for the advice and information they provide they need to be licenced by a provincial licencing body. All dietitians who are legally permitted to practice within the province or territory will be listed on the website.


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Where are all the dietitians?

I was walking home from work the other day thinking about how great it is to see organizations like Doctors Nova Scotia and the Ontario Medical Association calling for action against energy drinks and obesity, respectfully. That got me to thinking about the fact that these are both very much issues pertaining to food. So where are the dietitians in all of this? Oh sure, you have a number of us mouthing off as individuals about these issues but where are the orchestrated efforts by our governing bodies?

As far as I can tell, from my time as a registered dietitian in both Ontario and in Nova Scotia, our provincial professional organizations don’t do much for us, let alone for the betterment of all provincial residents. They take our money, investigate if complaints are filed against us, and send out the occasional newsletter (at least they’re not promoting the food industry like Dietitians of Canada, but membership with DC is optional). I know we don’t have the same numbers as doctors do but surely to goodness we could be doing more.

I’d like to see the Nova Scotia Dietetic Association pushing for legislation regarding food security, the built environment, obesity, support of local agriculture, to name a few. And while I’m at it, I’d like to see them advocate for us dietitians. Why is it that many health plans cover scientifically unproven therapies such as naturopaths and acupuncture yet they won’t cover dietitian services which so many people could benefit from?

If anyone has a suggestion on how we can get our provincial professional organizations working for us I’d love to hear it!

Update on March 8, 2013: I was in contact with the NSDA and was asked to removed my comments pertaining to the NSDA from my blog. I was going to revise this post but I have decided to add this note instead. Unfortunately, the role of the NSDA is mandated by the government. As such, they are unable to engage in activities beyond those for which they are mandated. Apparently, advocacy is not one of their mandated activities. I apologise to the NSDA for suggesting they act in an area outside of their jurisdiction. Clearly, there is a gap in provincial dietitian organizations. With the formation of the Dietitian’s Network of Nova Scotia I hope that we will see this change.


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Dietitians sell-out for meat

A friend and fellow dietitian recently send me a PDF of an interesting document: Healthy Food Choices: Good Reasons to Recommend Foods of Animal Origin. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find a link directly to the document to share with you. The link I’ve given will take you to the Beef Order Centre where you can download the PDF.

If you’ve been reading for a while you know that I’m not a vegan or vegetarian. However, I don’t eat meat every day, or even every week and you know that I’m no big fan of cow’s milk. This publication rubbed me the wrong way. While it was written by a number of highly credentialed dietitians it was also “prepared through the collaborative efforts of: Beef Information Centre, Canada Pork, Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Dairy Farmers of Canada”. I think that pretty much covers every animal product marketing board in Canada. How can anyone give much credibility to a document encouraging people to eat more animal products that was essentially developed by the people who make money off the sale of said products?

The arguments they give are that Canadians aren’t consuming enough of certain nutrients (several of the ones listed don’t even come from animal products; i.e. vitamin C, folate, and fibre). In addition Canadians consume too many foods that aren’t part of the food guide (“junk food”), and we aren’t consuming enough from any of the food groups. No mention of the fact that the food guide is inherently flawed and even if it wasn’t, it’s just a guide not gospel.

Even if we’re not eating enough servings from the meat and alternatives food group, or from the milk and alternatives food group (which I’m dubious about) there’s a key word in both food groups that they seem to have over looked: alternatives. Yes, this means that you can eat other (non-animal) foods to fulfill your needs from both food groups. They don’t even mention any of these foods, or the fact that many nutrients contained in animal products are readily available in plant foods and generally speaking, plant foods tend to be healthier than animal foods. I’m usually far more concerned about people consuming too few vegetables and fruits than I am about them consuming too few servings of meat.

Honestly, I think it’s shameful that dietitians would allow their names to be associated with such a publication. Then again, maybe that’s why I can’t find work in my field.

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