 Nutritional Therapy is a relatively new professional field in the UK and evolved out of naturopathy, the high tech disease preventative supplement industry in the US and the existing nutrition professions in the UK (see below). It applies the latest nutritional and phyto(plant)/bio-chemical knowledge of food and plant extracts in a clinical setting based on the ethos : You are not what you eat but what you digest and absorb.
METHOD: Client usually self-referring, although some do operate from GP surgeries with GP referring and herbalists or other complementary medicine practitioners may refer. The Nutritional Therapist will usually take an in depth family and your own medical history. Make a list of current health issues you wish to resolve and a detailed diet diary. A list of any current medication is also requested. They will do this through a pre-submitted health questionnaire and face to face, postal or internet interview. They will then give advice in 3 parts or areas:
Diet including helpful purchasing advice and recipes.
Write a Supplement Programme detailing how and when you should take any supplements and what they were given chiefly for. This is like a prescription and is called one, by some practitioners. See Supplement Advice regarding safety issues etc.
They may suggest you undergo Diagnostic Tests, if appropriate, from many of the private laboratories (e.g. Great Smokies Diagnostic Lab) that now exist or from your doctor e.g. DEXASCAN for bone density if you are at risk of osteoporosis. Many are non-invasive e.g. CDSA (Comprehensive Stool Analysis) which involves stool samples or adrenal stress test taken by 4 saliva swabs.
A responsible therapist will encourage communication between the client, other Complementary Mededicine Practitioners the client may be seeing, themselves and the client's GP and pharmacist regarding medication and the overall health management of their client.
PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS: The Nutritional Practitioner, Journal of ION. • PROFESSIONAL BODY: BANT  (British Association of Nutritional Therapists), London. Required to adhere to Code of Ethics, require 3 year training degree and CPD submission yearly.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL NUTRITIONAL DISCIPLINES IN THE UK
The nutritional therapist has a distinct role separate to that of the two other professional nutritional disciplines in the UK:
DIETICIAN:
Advice: Concerned with macronutrient advice (carbohydrates, protein, calcium, fats) around alleviating, reducing damage and severity or preventing main Western Disease types (e.g. Diabetes, Hypertension). Uses Scottish Diet Initiative. 15 Sheets (produced by Glasgow Caledonian University) for main disease types. Referral: GP/Hospital Referral (NHS).
PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS: Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics. • PROFESSIONAL BODY: BDA (British Dietetics Association), Birmingham.
NUTRITIONIST:
Advice: Teach, research (including for food industry and government) and sometimes apply (medical, veterinary or dietetic setting) the understanding of DAME (Digestion and Absorption, Metabolism and Excretion of Nutrients) and how they affect the human body (e.g. growth, reproduction, health of various body systems etc.). Study micronutrients and biochemistry. Referral: Self-referral or GP/Hospital Referral (NHS).
PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS: Nutrition Bulletin, BNF News report on research mostly funded through industry (e.g. Britvic, Cadbury’s-Schwepps, M+S, Sainsbury’s etc.). • PROFESSIONAL BODY: NS (Nutrition Society), London. Requires 3 year degree and 3 years work experience to register.
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