Let’s say you have a nutrition-related issue that’s been bothering you for a while. For example, digestive upset, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, or your doctor told you you’re pre-diabetic and need to adjust your diet. So, you decide it’s finally time to seek a professional for guidance.
Do you look for a registered dietitian or a nutritionist? Or are they the same thing? In this blog, I will explain the difference between a registered dietitian and nutritionist and help you decide who you want to work with.
What is a Registered Dietitian?
A Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) is a licensed medical professional who has completed specific requirements to earn their title. To become a registered dietitian in the United States, one has to:
- Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited dietetics program (not all nutrition degrees are accredited)
- As of 2024, a master’s degree will also be required
- Apply to and be matched to a supervised internship of 1,000 hours, including clinical nutrition, community nutrition and food service. The internship must meet certain guidelines to qualify.
- Pass a national board exam by the Commission on Dietetic Registration
- Complete a set amount of continuing education credits every 5 years to remain licensed.
For myself who had a bachelor’s in journalism, this meant I had to go back to school for 2.5 years to get into an accredited certificate program in order to apply to an internship (which was about 10 times harder and more time-consuming than applying to either college that I attended). Once you apply, you still have to match to an internship program, similar to the process doctors go through to match to a residency. In the end, most RDs probably take around 5 years to complete the process of school, internship and studying for and passing the board exam.
Where Does a Registered Dietitian Work?
A RD can work in a variety of roles/places including but not limited to:
- Hospitals
- Eating disorder clinics
- Rehab facilities
- Dialysis clinics
- Food service management (like a school, military, hospital, restaurant, grocery stores, etc)
- Work for or run a community program or government-sponsored nutrition program like a food bank, WIC, Head Start, etc.
- Manage corporate wellness programs
- Private practice
- Sports nutrition/gyms/spas
- Supplement formulation/development
- Nutrition research
- Health coaching
- Weight loss clinics
- Research
A dietitian can help to treat medical diagnoses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, malnutrition, stroke, burns/injury, Crohn’s disease, Celiac disease, liver disease, renal failure, etc. They can also write detailed meal plans for clients. These two things really sets them apart from a nutritionist.
What is a Nutritionist?
All registered dietitians are ALSO nutritionists, but the opposite is not true. A nutritionist is a general term that anyone can use and they cannot call themselves registered dietitians. There is no governing entity that regulates this term or decides who can use it. So, if your aunt lost 50 pounds and decides she wants to help others lose weight could call herself a nutritionist if she so chooses.
However, most nutritionists do go through training and certification programs and are considered to have some level of expertise in nutrition. Some programs are fairly short and simple, while others may take a year or more of in-depth training. Some may go to school to become an integrative or functional nutritionist and acquire knowledge that is somewhat different from what a registered dietitian learned in school. In many states, a nutritionist is not allowed to write meal plans for clients.
Where Do Nutritionists work?
Nutritionists may work in many similar environments as a RD, such as a gym, weight loss clinic, health coaching, schools, private practice, etc. However, while many job titles will use the term “nutritionist” the job specification will indicate that they will only hire registered dietitians.
Nutritionists who are not licensed RDs typically cannot work in most hospitals or similar medical facilities because they often lack the medical background and credentialing.
Should You Hire a Registered Dietitian or a Nutritionist?
As both a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian, I would personally recommend that, as a general rule, you hire or work with a registered dietitian. Their schooling, credentialing and commitment to a certain code of ethics makes them trustworthy resources who have a deep understanding of how the human body works. My education of anatomy, physiology, chemistry, etc while becoming a RD was SO far beyond the level of learning that I received as a personal trainer and nutritionist. For most people with an acute disease or injury, a registered dietitian is your safest bet.
However, there are exceptions to the rule. In my experience, some clinical dietitians can get hyper-focused on their area of work (which is a good thing), and therefore not be as in tune to other areas of practice. If they are medically focused, they may lack a deep understanding of functional/integrative/holistic research and approaches. Their method of treatment can get a bit myopic and may miss the bigger picture. Additionally, In many circumstances such as a hospital, RD’s in the United States are limited to giving only certain evidence-based advice from a western medicine standpoint for legal reasons.
As a holistic practitioner, I am a believer that sometimes the best solutions come from practices that focus on more natural foods, herbs, and seeing the issue from a whole-person perspective. For some chronic diseases, a person might find better success with a more integrative practitioner.
Luckily, there are many RDs who do take an integrative, functional approach. There are also some nutritionists who have a great deal of medical background and knowledge as well. In my opinion, it comes down to the actual person, their education, experience, and approach, not their title. And if you’re looking to pay with insurance, you’ll be able to do so with some registered dietitians.
I would recommend finding a Registered Dietitian who also has a value for the integrative and holistic side of nutrition as well for the most well-rounded option.
If you are looking for a registered dietitian nutritionist to help you with weight loss, heart health, pre-diabetes management, digestive problems/gut health, post-bariatric surgery weight maintenance or physical and spiritual wellness, I’d love to help! Book a free 20-min consult here.
And if you need healthy meals ideas and guidelines for you and your family but aren’t sure where to start, checkout my 6-Week Better Health Meal Plan! You’ll get 6 weeks of healthy meals and snack ideas with recipe links, meal prep tips and grocery shopping lists to make healthy eating simple and tasty!
