Nutritional therapy is the science of food and its interactions with our physiology, metabolism, and composition of the human body. It is the practice of combining the food we eat, supplements and healthy eating habits, tailored towards each individual, in order to help them move forward with their health goals.
It takes a holistic approach to overall health through personalised nutrition advice and lifestyle medicine guidance, which helps to address the potential underlying causes of ill-health, rather than focusing on symptoms. Its role is to promote health maintenance, prevent disease and help facilitate recovery from illness. Science and evidence based, it offers a wide range of tools in order to assess one’s health and identifies potential nutritional imbalances which maybe contributing to symptoms and health conditions.
Many chronic and ill health conditions, as well as day-to-day fluctuations in a sense of wellbeing, can be linked to nutrition and lifestyle habits. Marked improvements in overall health are noticed very soon after changes to the diet are implemented.
Nutritional therapists are fully qualified practitioners, who consider their client’s health goals and dietary preferences, in order to support them on their health journey.
Since ancient times, certain foods were used to heal and affect health, most often combined with herbal medicine. The study of food as medicine reveals centuries of discoveries and development into what we know today as Nutritional Therapy.
In 400B.C. the “Father of Medicine” and Greek physician Hippocrates, said, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” He observed that food does impact our overall health, body and mind, while helping prevent disease and maintain wellness.
In 1747, a British Navy physician,Dr. James Lind observed that when the crew on the ship added limes to their diet, they didn’t develop scurvy, in contrast with those that ate just non-perishables such as bread and meat. Although Vitamin C wasn’t discovered until the 1930s, this experiment changed the way physicians viewed food, creating interest in more studies.
The theory of metabolism - creating energy by transfer of food and oxygen into heat and water in the body was discovered by the “Father of Nutrition and Chemistry” AntoineLavoisier in 1770, and in the early 1800s, the elements of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen in food were isolated, leading to more research on vitamins in the early 20th century, when the concept of vitamin supplementation to support began. The first vitamin pills appeared on the market in the 1930s, which lead to the creation of a brand-new industry around science-based health products.
Nutritionists, then called Dieticians started to play a role in hospitals in the late 19th century and became increasingly involved in national health care systems post WW1, and eventually into the private sector. As dieticians became more sought after, and training programmes more available, careers in nutrition sprung to popularity.
Traditionally, Dieticians tend to work in hospitals and other public institutions, while Nutritionists mostly work in private practice, in research and in education, despite some overlap between the two.
The field of nutrition as complementary medicine has seen unprecedented growth in recent years, and nutritionists’ services are widely available for all.
