You grew up with a family physician or pediatrician, then made an appointment with a women’s health practitioner along the way. Medical checkups, we get. But how about that annual diet checkup? 
They’re serious. They've named a special day to promote awareness of the big health dividends connected to professional guidance on eating right. March 10, 2008 is the first annual
Registered Dietitian Day.
I hear what you're thinking. "I'm a strong woman. I'm smart and successful. I don't need advice on what to eat."
I felt the same way until I interviewed a few experts. In fact, I venture that for most of my life, my eating habits have been relatively educated and -- the harder part of the puzzle -- disciplined. I was just one of those lucky kids who actually preferred vegetables to candy. Weird, but true.
After interviewing several Registered Dietitians, though, the idea of having my very own bona fide food expert is appealing.
An RD? What's The Point?
Why, even my good friend, Paul, who is impressively rigorous in his heart-healthy approach to life, first reacted with dismay to my question, "What do you think of the idea of having a personal registered dietitian, like you have a physician?"
According to Paul (and a lot of us,) virtually all of us know what we're supposed to be eating. "We know the basic food groups and which ones to focus on. We know to stay away from saturated fats. We know to avoid canned and processed foods. If we use them anyway, we know to read labels. We've been told that sugar-free foods can be high in fats and vice versa."
Then again, my fat-free friend thought aloud, maybe we don't all know those things. So, as I typically believed, he suggested that an RD's role is in schools and hospitals.
Admittedly, the most health-conscious of us can find our heads spinning by what sounds like back-and-forth research reports spit out by the news media. Eggs are bad. Eggs are good. Drink red wine. Don’t imbibe at all. Chocolate has mysteriously beneficial properties. Well, only the chocolate that few of us eat. Who has the time to keep up with the latest data?
An RD has that kind of time.
But Can't My Doctor Advise Me?
"Contrary to popular belief, we are NOT the Food Police," jokes
Lona Sandon,
M.Ed., R.D., L.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. Sandon, who is an Assistant Professor at University of Texas Southwestern, is working with the ADA to get the word out that physicians are medical experts -- not nutrition experts. “Most people may not know that primary care doctors typically don’t also have nutrition education in their medical schooling.”
"It's just like any other specialist," adds
Veronica Juarez, R.D., L.D., C.D.E. of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic and the
Texas Dietetic Association. "The amount of time for keeping up with the latest information can only be spent if that's your area of expertise."
One benefit of an appointment with an RD is that you'll get a full hour of her day. The typical time spent by patients with a physician in this country ranges around 10 minutes.
First appointments with an RD start with history-taking. You'll reflect back on your typical diet for different periods of time -- the past 24 hours, the past month, etc.
Optimally, the RD will have on hand any medical history or records either sent prior by your referring physician (a typical 'must' for insurance coverage in most policies) or that you've brought to the appointment. Current or previous medical conditions will be the first topics discussed.
A nutrition client's goals are put on the table next. Not everyone who sees an RD is there to lose weight. Holistic-minded physicians fortunately recognize the tremendous impact that food can have on several health conditions, for example, metabolic syndrome and chronic infections. Athletes who are serious competitors are frequent RD clients.
A conversation about your lifestyle will shed more light on the ultimate result. "We look realistically,” Sandon emphasizes, “at what kind of time you have available for food preparation. Do you eat out very often and need to continue doing so? Do you exercise and how? Are you a snacker? Who shops for groceries in your household?"
A strategy is developed to "move the client toward a healthier eating plan," says Sandon. "Then we schedule a follow-up appointment so we can assess whether or not progress is being made toward achieving the client's goals."
Sandon says that clients who see the most success are usually the ones who come in for their follow-up visit. Part of the reason is the sense of accountability that returning clients have, similar to support groups like Weight Watchers.
"People who come in the first time and announce, 'My doctor said I have to see you'... they're often the ones who don't follow through with the plan we devise," she says good-naturedly. "But the ones who come in because they're afraid of having a heart attack or some other nutrition related condition -- they're the most motivated."
What If I Just Read a Book?
Okay, so maybe having someone go over my eating details would be helpful. And after many years of trying out different health care plans and programs -- from restrictive HMO's to independent physicians to alternative practitioners -- I can see the value of having one professional "follow me" through my life's changes dietary-wise.
But couldn't I just pick a book or website and get the same benefit?
Books and websites about nutrition are big business. They are not all bad; nor all they all helpful.
Lona Sandon says that competition in the publishing business adds up to books being one-sided. “There’s often something the author is trying to get across as the ‘magic key’ to weight loss, for example. They sometimes promise more than any book can deliver. Each one will have some reality-based glimmer of hope, but they tend to over-simplify research findings to make it more readable.”
The editing that makes these books readable also squeezes a lot of important facts out. Veronica Juarez agrees that readers are often coming away without a complete understanding of a diet book’s premise.
“I try these diets out so that I have some idea of what my clients are going through,” Juarez says. “Many of the books are good, but I don’t think people are actually reading them thoroughly. They’re flipping through to the menus and recipes, and missing the baseline for how this particular program can work for you.”
Most diet books have the following tips in common, says Juarez:
Add more non-starchy vegetables to your daily diet 
Keep your calories relatively low
Exercise daily
Eat fewer processed foods
Besides the fact that readers might have underlying health conditions that a particular book may not address appropriately, we all have nutritional needs that change over time. We’re accustomed to hearing that women need to hone in on their calcium and Vitamin D intake to prevent osteoporosis, but there are other nutrients that are more essential to creating or continuing good health at different points in our lives.
“We’re used to seeing the elderly as gaunt and fragile,” Juarez demonstrates, “when much of that could be avoided or even reversed a bit if they upped their protein intake. Senior citizens often, whether because of preference or cost, stop eating as much meat at a time when their bodies need far more protein. The result is broken down muscle tissue.”
Make Eating Work For You
RDs are like the rest of us -- busy people, often women with families to care for and after-work interests that fill their calendars, who quite often cannot find the time to do the 'eating right' thing perfectly.
Lona Sandon says she’s lucky enough to be able to pack a lunch for herself daily. “It’s nutritious and fills me up, so I’m not running to the vending machine or fast food places.” However, she says a good RD recognizes that not everyone has such luxury, “so I work with them to make the healthier choices in those settings.”
If you can start thinking of food as a tool, then you're starting to understand how an RD approaches your needs and goals.
"Everyone’s overall goal is better quality of life," says Veronica Juarez. "But my motto is 'don't aim for perfection' because you're just setting yourself up for failure and self-esteem issues."
Registered Dietitians are health care professionals. They provide preventive nutrition counseling and, when a problematic condition exists, nutrition therapy. RDs have, at minimum, a Bachelor's degree, accredited practice and training in nutrition, certification and recognized credentials which require ongoing education to maintain.
RDs advise consumers to be wary of uncredentialed "nutritionists," a moniker that can mean almost anything. Many insurance plans will cover only visits to Registered Dietitians.
“We can’t perform miracles for our clients,” Sandon wraps up, “but if something has sparked their motivation and they’re ready to make some changes in how they eat, we can certainly guide them.”
Like my once-skeptical, now philosophical friend, Paul, supposes, “RD’s can teach not only the basics of nutrition but the fundamental truth that, in the end, the answer is moderation. Eat to live, not live to eat.”
To find a Registered Dietitian in your area and for more information on how RD’s can help you improve the quality of your life, visit
http://eatright.org.
Find out what RD's think about that diet book you're reading on their
page of reviews.
More on Food & Nutrition from SMW