Q: What can a Registered Nutritional Therapist (RNT) do for me?
Andrea answers:
- An RNT examines your current diet to see if it supports your health goals. If it doesn’t, I will suggest modifications that will.
- A RNT will create recommendations, teach you meal planning concepts, shopping strategies and social eating tips while providing recipes and meal ideas that best suit your needs.
- An RNT will support you through coaching and education designed to keep you focused so that you will achieve your goals. A discussion of progress and challenges is part of every follow-up visit.
- An RNT will keep you accountable to yourself. Nutritional counseling is not a passive activity. Your results will largely be dependent upon your compliance, i.e. your willingness to put the personalized recommendations into practice. Your participation is critical to your success.
Q: How will you assess my diet?
A: Send in a journal of what you’ve been eating for the past 5 to 7 days. This is a very important tool that nutritionists use when identifying balance between different nutrients in the diet. If you’ve never done this before, you’ll find a blank one in my client consult preparation area.
Q: Can you diagnose what is wrong with me and provide a treatment?
A: No. Only doctors (for ex., MD, ND, DC) are qualified to diagnose and treat. However, a Registered Nutritional Therapist is trained to provide nutritional support for the symptoms you are experiencing. You will be asked to complete symptom assessment forms in advance of your first consultation for this purpose. Often, clients experience benefit ranging from improvement to resolution of symptoms when they modify their diets.
Q: Do you develop recipes for specific health conditions? Do you offer food preparation classes or meals for sale?
Nutritionists are not trained as chefs, but we typically have a passion for food and its preparation. So we’re usually able to take a recipe that contains common allergens and revamp it to suit a clients’ needs without too much difficulty. At this time, cooking classes and prepared foods are not something I offer to my clients. I feel that client participation is critical for making health changes, so you’ll receive an array of suitable whole-food recipe instructions that you can prepare for yourself.
Q: Will you recommend supplements, like a multi-vitamin?
A: Depending on your stress levels, current diet, medical diagnoses and nutritional supplements and/or medications you are currently taking, I may recommend nutrients in supplement form when it is clear that your nutritional needs cannot be met by your current diet under your lifestyle circumstances. In addition, certain situations (for ex., pregnancy, athletic training, malabsorption conditions, etc.) increase your requirements for easily-absorbed nutrients that can be topped up faster with quality supplementation.
Q: How often will we need to meet?
A: This depends on your health goals. After your initial 1 hour consultation, you will be asked to meet every 2 weeks for a half-hour follow-up visit. During these sessions you can ask questions about food and how you’re feeling on your personalized nutrition program. It also gives me an opportunity to measure how you’re progressing. I may make modifications to your plan if you are having challenges, measure your body composition via bio-electrical impedance analysis or give you new action steps.
Q: Is nutritional counseling covered by my health insurance plan?
A: Provincial healthcare (OHIP in Ontario) does not cover the services of a Registered Nutritional Therapist; however, if you have extended health coverage through your employer, ask them if they will reimburse you for nutritional counseling by a CANNP association-registered nutritionist. Large companies such as ManuLife and GreenShield offer programs that cover these services. You will be issued a receipt following each consultation that can be submitted to your health insurance provider.
Clients may pay for services by Email Money Transfer (EMT), or by credit card immediately after each session (if paying per session). Cash and cheque payments will not be accepted at this time.
Do you have more questions? Contact me.