What is a holistic nutritionist?
A holistic nutritionist or a natural nutritionist is a certified nutritionist who takes an integrated and natural approach to nutrition, viewing the health and well-being of a person as a whole. Hence the word holistic.
What does a holistic nutritionist do?
A holistic practitioner conducts highly personalized nutritional counselling sessions to maximize the chances of success. During these sessions he or she thoroughly examines each person on an individual basis. He or she then aims to get to the root cause of the given health concern or condition, rather than only dealing with symptoms.
Approach
To do so, a practitioner who uses the natural nutrition approach carefully examines each persons:
health and family history
eating habits [diet]
lifestyle
environment
physical state
mental state
emotional state
In other words, a holistic nutritionist takes an in-depth look at the mind, body and soul.
Nutritional education
Naturally, nutritional education plays an important role when working with a holistic nutritionist. Natural nutrition practitioners provide clients with a solid nutritional foundation. Doing so, empowers clients. It also improves the chances of making healthier food choices while avoiding highly-palatable but unhealthy foods responsible for various adverse health effects, conditions and chronic diseases.
Focus is on more than just food
Food, however, is not the only area of focus. That is, a holistic nutritionist goes beyond food. He or she focuses on all aspects of a persons life such as the mindset, self-care, stress level, sleep, exercise and much more.
Diet or nutrition is certainly not looked at as an entity on its own because it is interlinked with other aspects of a persons life. As such, it requires a multi-pronged approach.
Factors to consider
Besides, there are numerous factors that influence our daily food choices. As such, they have to be taken into consideration during nutritional counselling sessions.
These include: taste preferences, conditioning, culture, religion, socioeconomic status, availability, addiction, social life and support, marketing, mental health, physical health and knowledge.
What a holistic nutritionist is not and does not do
A holistic nutritionist is not a registered medical professional who does not diagnose and treat disease. In addition, he or she does not prescribe any medication.