By: Kristy Richardson, MS, MPH, RD, CSSD, CHES - Registered Dietitian in CA - www.ocnutrition.com

Did you know that in California anyone can call themselves a “Nutritionist”? Most states require licensing, but Section 2068 of California’s Business and Professional code allows anyone to call themselves a Nutritionist, regardless of education. People have taken advantage of this loophole to market themselves as nutrition experts. Many of these unqualified nutritionists are salesmen with illegitimate credentials obtained through diploma mills (organizations granting degrees which are fraudulent or worthless due to lack of proper standards). According to the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), these unqualified “nutritionists” charge counseling fees for questionable advice; utilize unproven “tests” to assess nutritional status; and often profit personally from the sale of supplements they prescribe.

A Registered Dietitian (RD) is a professional credential, just like a Registered Nurse (RN) or Medical Doctor (MD). The title is legally protected and can only be used by those authroized by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the American Dietetic Association. Individuals who are Registered Dietitians have 1) received a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from an accredited college or university; 2) completed at least 900 hours of internship experience at an accredited institution; 3) successfully completed the Registration Exam for Dietitians; and 4) maintained recertification by obtaining at least 75 hours of continuing education every 5 years.

While many illegitimate nutritionists provide advice that is not backed by sufficient research, Registered Dietitisn are trained to critically evaluate research studies and base their advice on the most up-to-date research. By looking at your medical history, medications, supplements, and eating and exercise habits, a Registered Dietitian can provide you with safe and effective nutrition counseling to help you reach your health and fitness goals.

To help protect you against unqualified nutritionists, the NCAHF recommends that you check out the accreditation status of any unfamiliar degree-granting institution and verify a nutritionist’s credentials by checking with the local, state or national dietetic association.

This information was brought to you by OC Nutrition, Your Trusted Source for Health & Nutrition Advice. OC Nutrition offers nutrition counseling services over the phone or in person in Irvine, Orange, Anaheim Hills and Chino. To contact us please visit our website - www.OCnutrition.com

By: Kristy Richardson, MS, MPH, RD, CSSD, CHES - Registered Dietitian in CA - www.ocnutrition.com

Posted By: Danny Rubino - Director of Operations - www.Dietitians.net

Hello RDs,

First, we’d like to take the opportunity to thank all you for all of the great feedback we have been receiving about the new site. We are taking all of your recommendations into consideration as our main objective is to make our sites as informative and productive for not only the visiting patients, but also for our RD members.

We are writing this post to address a couple things that have been brought to our attention by more than a few RDs in response to our emails that we have sent out so far.

‘Dietitian Schools’ - We are aware of the current misrepresentation of this category and will be replacing the current listings with a number of universities that offer didactic programs and coordinated programs that lead up to earning the RD credential. Thank you all for being thorough while going through the site and pointing this out to us.

Registered Dietitians vs. Nutritionists - We are also aware of the differences in qualifications and requirements of earning an RD credential. We only market our products and services to registered dietitians who are members of the ADA. We will continue to focus our efforts on promoting the RD industry and connecting patients with our members. Thank you again for the numerous offers to write a post highlighting the differences.

We hope that you all continue to frequently visit the site, and continue to become new members of our RD network. We look forward to continuing to grow our network and work with our members to create the most cost-effective marketing solution available to the RD community.

Follow us on Twitter or visit the Sign Up page to keep up to date with site upgrades, welcoming new members, and randomly posted patient leads. You can also visit the About Us page of the site to view our archive of emails that we have sent out to our RD mailing list.