The following is a guide to what you can expect from your Nutritional Therapist, and what responsibilities you have as a client.
Introduction
Nutritional therapy is the application of nutrition and lifestyle medicine sciences in the promotion of health, peak performance and individual care. Nutritional Therapists assess and identify potential nutritional imbalances and understand how these may contribute to an individual’s symptoms and health concerns. This approach allows them to work with individuals to address nutritional imbalance and help support the body towards maintaining health.
Nutritional therapy is recognised as a complementary medicine and is relevant for individuals with chronic conditions, as well as those looking for support to enhance their health and wellbeing. Practitioners consider each individual to be unique and recommend personalised nutrition and lifestyle programmes rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Practitioners never recommend nutritional therapy as a replacement for medical advice and always refer any client with ‘red flag’ signs or symptoms to their medical professional. They frequently work alongside medical professionals and will communicate with other healthcare professionals involved in the client’s care to explain any nutritional therapy programme that has been provided.
The Registered Nutritional Therapist
- The degree of benefit obtainable from nutritional therapy may vary between clients with similar health problems and following a similar nutritional therapy programme.
- Nutrition and lifestyle recommendations will be tailored to support health conditions and/or health concerns identified and agreed between both parties.
- Nutritional therapists are not permitted to diagnose, or claim to treat, medical conditions.
- The nutritional therapist’s recommendations are not a substitute for professional medical advice and/or treatment.
- Your nutritional therapist may recommend food supplements and/or functional testing as part of your nutritional therapy programme and may receive a commission on these products or services.
Standards of professional practice in nutritional therapy are governed by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) Code of Conduct, Ethics and Performance.
The client
- You are responsible for contacting your GP about any health concerns.
- If you are receiving treatment from your GP, or any other medical provider, you should tell them about any nutritional recommendations provided by your nutritional therapist. This is necessary because of any possible reaction between medication and the nutritional programme.
- It is important that you tell your nutritional therapist about any medical diagnosis, medication, herbal medicine or food supplements you are taking as this may affect the nutritional programme.
- If you are unclear about the agreed nutritional therapy programme/food supplement doses/time period, you should contact you nutritional therapist promptly for clarification.
- You understand that the recommendations are personal to you and may not be appropriate for others.
- You must contact your nutritional therapist should you wish to continue any specified supplement programme for longer than the originally agreed period, to avoid any potential adverse reactions.
- Recording consultations using any form of electronic media is not allowed without the written permission of both you and your nutritional therapist.