Northwestern Lifestyle Medicine

Nutrition Education

Dietetics

Northwestern Lifestyle Medicine is a Dietetics practice in Saint Albans, VT with healthcare providers who have special training and skill in assessing, diagnosing, and treating dietary and nutritional problems. Registered Dietitians at Northwestern Lifestyle Medicine perform nutritional counseling for people who wish to lose weight, have an eating disorder, need a customized diet for health reasons, experience food allergies or intolerances, suffer a digestive disorder, or wish to improve athletic ability. Dietetics is a medical specialty focused on the use of food and nutrition to promote health and manage disease. Significant diseases and conditions treated at Dietetics practices include anorexia, bulimia, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, acid reflux, cancer, obesity, pregnancy, food allergy and intolerance, and celiac disease. Medical tests, procedures and therapies provided by Dietetics practices include creating exclusion diet plans, advising patients on supplement use, creating specialized diet plans for diabetic patients, offering patient and parental nutrition education, prescribing some types of medication, and referring patients to other specialists as needed.

A Registered Dietitian (RD)/Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) is an individual uniquely trained in the science of nutrition and practice of dietetics to design and provide medical nutrition therapy (MNT) and other evidence-based applications of the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) that exemplify the profession's systematic approach to providing high quality nutrition care. Registered dietitians provide MNT for the purpose of disease prevention or management, or to treat or rehabilitate an illness, injury, or condition, with the use of specific, indicated physical and cognitive nutrition care services comprised of one or more of the following aspects of the NCP: nutrition assessment/reassessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention (e.g., nutrition counseling, therapeutic diet ordering, and nutrition education) and nutrition monitoring and evaluation.

Dietetic Techniques

A Dietetic Technician, Registered (DTR)/Nutrition and Dietetics Technician, Registered (NDTR) is an individual holding a nationally protected title issued by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) to qualified individuals who obtain an associate's degree or higher and successfully complete a sliding set of academic, examination, and practice requirements accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) or established by CDR, the nature of which are dependent upon the level of academic degree obtained. The scope of practice of the NDTR focuses on food, nutrition, and dietetics practice, as well as related services. NDTRs work under the supervision of a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) when in direct patient/client nutrition care, and may work independently in providing general nutrition education to healthy populations. Patient/client populations include individuals receiving individualized care who have medical conditions or diseases, as well as at-risk individuals receiving personalized nutrition guidance as part of preventive health care.