March is National Nutrition Month and this year the focus is on personalizing your plate to work for you! Keep reading to find out why Registered Dietitians are the professionals of personalizing your plate!

Nutrition coach, health coach, nutrition and wellness coach, Dietitian. When thinking of who typically gives and provides nutrition information and services, these are some of the titles that come to mind. Social media and the internet present thousands of people and resources who claim themselves as “experts in nutrition”. How do we pick out the trusted sources for addressing and modifying our dietary intake? When it comes to true personalized nutrition, Registered Dietitians are the professionals.

Licensure – You Are Protected

The state of Ohio was the first state in the United States to provide licensure laws for dietitians.  Which means, only Registered Dietitians can provide personalized nutrition plans in states with licensure laws.  This protects you the consumer to ensure you receive evidence based nutritional advice.

Click here for more information on licensure provided by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

All Dietitians are Nutritionists, but not all Nutritionists are Dietitians

As you can see here, Registered Dietitians are the health professionals you should go to when seeking out personalized nutrition advice.  Nutrition coaches, whether certified or not, are limited in practice in states with licensure laws.  This protects you the consumer.  They should not use any personal measurements or medical conditions to base their nutrition plans.  Therefore, their “personalized plans” are not really personalized at all.

In Ohio, if you have experienced or received a nutrition intervention beyond basic nutrition advice by someone who is not a licensed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, please consider reporting the incident to the Ohio Medical board.  This helps keep other individuals out of harm’s way. Additionally, if you are a Registered Dietitian and have come across this same circumstance, you must report to the Ohio Medical Board and please use the Academy’s reporting tool to also report the incident.

Let the dietitians at Dietitian in Your Kitchen help you personalize your plate to meet your specific dietary needs by setting up a discovery call today!

Author: Janelle Noe, Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics Intern, The Ohio State University Class of 2022