Do nutritionist and doctors recommend a vegetarian/vegan diet????

Question

I’m going off to college next year and I am majoring in nursing and nutrition
My sister told me that I can not be a good nutritionist and be vegetarian because my diet is unhealthy and people like meat

What do you think???

Going to the library today will definitely check out the china study
Thanks for the book recommendation

Answer 1

Please pursue this. Every medical professional I know has the same answer when it comes to a vegetarian diet - "oh, hmmm.." and that's it. It would be a wonderful service to have someone, anyone, in the medical community who can relate to a person with untraditional dietary habits.

Answer 2

In any professional capacity . . . being objective and acting in the best interest of the client/patient is of paramount importance. One must not lay their own prejudices and preferences on the client/patient.

Most physicians and nutritionists prefer a well-balanced and moderate diet and will recommend as such.

BUT a good physician and nutritionist will also take into consideration the lifestyle and ethical considerations of the client/patient. That means if someone is really more than a vegetarian/vegan of conveneince .... they will work with the client/patient to find a diet that fits the client's ethics and will not effect any physical problems that might make vegetarian/vegan diets problematical.

Answer 3

I think your sister doesn't know what she's talking about.
I also think you should pick up a copy of a book called THE CHINA STUDY. It was written by a nutritionist who was at Cornell for many, many years and who headed up MANY nutritional studies over the past several decades. He led the Cornell-Oxford China Study, the most comprehensive nutritional study ever done (well, it's not "done" - it's ongoing) and the data they've collected point to a vegetarian diet being the healthiest - the more animal proteins you add to a diet the more the incidents of western disease go up. The fact is, we are still learning about nutrition and the old food pyramid and the notion that we are supposed to ingest animal proteins to be healthy, that is quickly becoming archaic thinking. Anyone who has been keeping up on nutritional research over the last ten years knows that the more fruits and veggies and the less animal products people eat the healthier they are.
Go get the China Study and read it cover to cover NOW! If you are serious about going into the field of nutrition you really need to read it.

Answer 4

There's an enormous variety of views about what constitutes the best diet in the world.

Both nutritionists and doctors will give different answers.

Nutritionists will tend to fight among themselves as to what is the best diet; doctors will tend to fight among themselves as to what is the best diet. Nutritionists and doctors fight each other about what is the best diet. Often doctors, as standard medical superiority practice, will reject any and all claims of all nutritionists (basis: business turf war - public relations where only doctors count, never nutritionists).

Visiting a Whole Foods type of grocery store can provide a look at what is good nutrition.

Sorry if my view offends some readers.

Answer 5

Good for you!

I can't say whether your sister is right or wrong in stating that your diet is unhealthy, as I don't know. If she's saying that simply because you don't include meat, she's wrong. If you aren't careful about what you put into your body (you eat lots of junk or don't have much variety, for example), then she's right. Either way, you can have a perfectly decent diet whether it includes meat or not.

She's also right. People do like meat. But people also like butter and deep-fried Twinkies (Iowa State Fair). However, you'd be hard pressed to find a medical professional state that you should eat either for that reason.

As a nutritionist, while you can focus on vegetarianism, you need to understand that you will have clients who include meat in their diets. You'll need to be able to dispense advice for them, too, in order to do your job well.

So tell your sister she's being silly, point out the health benefits of vegetarianism, and remind her that what people like isn't always what is best for them. Don't let her get you down. Good luck at college! I hope you have a good cafeteria.

Answer 6

For the best answers, search on this site https://smarturl.im/aDCxp

Your blood type? Are you KIDDING me? The whole "blood type diet" was a fad that was DEBUNKED some time ago...you need to see another doctor! That's like your doctor putting leeches on you to get the evil spirits out: it's bullsh*t and unscientific! Additionally, as unfortunate as it is, doctors aren't always the best people to turn to for nutrition advice. Because you are interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan, I highly recommend you find a nutritionist who is familiar with the diet. Like your doctor, some nutritionists don't know things they should and my give you faulty information.

Answer 7

Many many nutritionists are vegan and vegetarian. Why? Because they are educated in nutrition. Any nutritionist that says a vegan or vegetarian diet is unhealthy in any way shape or form really did not pay attention in class.

Doctors on the other hand, are not required to study nutrition at all. Hence, they are totally ignorant. Not to mention, most doctors are anti-massage, anti-chiropractics, anti-midwife, and anti-anything that will cut into their profits.

Answer 8

the very true and sad fact is that doctors are not trained in nutrition.

its up to the person to look further and actually learn into it.

i think its ridiculous that you can study to be any type of health professional without mandatory nutrition components.

i do believe vegetarian and vegan diets if well researched and done correctly are the healthiest diet for a human, i mainly believe this because of my own personal experience with my own diet and health, let alone the research.

theres nothing in meat that cannot be found in a plant based source. the food chain has to start somewhere and it starts in plants and microorganisms. saying fish is healthy is pretty silly when the fish eat other fish that eat algae... the algae is where the omega and other good stuff comes from, fish are second hand. same with any animal, you go down the food chain far enough and you get to plants and microorganisms.

every time an animal eats food in the food chain it converts what it eats into forms it wants to use... which is like a layer of processing, the further down the chain we eat animals (like carrion and pigs for example) the more 'processed' the food is, the harder it is for our body to get at the good stuff and get rid of the bad stuff, the worse for us the meat gets.


all meat is acidic and all meat has saturated fat, even lean meats do, meat is also very very high in protein.

Humans can get the nutrients found in meat from a plant based source, without hampering the digestive system with the acidic meat and without consuming the saturated fat (which we have no dietary requirement for and which contributes to heart disease and obesity) and without the excess protein which the body must waste resources binding and getting rid off, contributing to osteoperosis...

in answer to your question yes. a vegetarian diet is specifically recommended by the world health organisation for people with heart disease related conditions.

how can we then say that eating meat doesnt significantly contribute to it in the first place?

on a side note theres also sustainablitiy to consider when thinking about vegetarianism, the production of meat by intensive agriculture is environmentally unsustainable. search up environmental vegetarianism for more info on that.

Good Luck : )

Answer 9

I disagree with your sister. However, keep in mind that quotes like the following ----

"I've been veggie for 28 years . . . I'm perfectly healthy, never ill, no supplements," -----

--- indicate that a vast number of people forget that diet affects emotional, intellectual and psychological well-being as well. You will learn that as you go through your nursing and nutrition courses. Congratulations on choosing a wonderful combination of professions.

Answer 10

People do like meat , that is true.

A balanced veggie diet is healthy

Think of it this way....if meaty diets were so healthy why would there be a market for a job as a nutritianlist ? You might want to ask your sister that one.

I've been veggie for 28 years, i'm 42 now. I'm perfectly healthy, never ill, no supplements, active all day. What more does your sister want ?

Answer 11

I agree with the 1st person it would be great to have more vegetarian in the medical field

When I first became a vegetarian my mother took me to the doctor and he said it was a good diet for me because diabetes and heart attacks run in my family

When my sister became a vegetarian her doctor said it was bad and that she needs meat to be healthy

So I say it depends on the doctor