Nutrition Plans for You!
Our Vancouver Dietitian will help boost your ENERGY, DETOXIFY, optimize your DIGESTION, HORMONES, manage ALLERGIES, and release STRESS… FEEL GREAT!
Confused about food? Not sure where to start? Come to an introductory consultation to review your diet and create a basic nutrition plan tailored to your needs.
What is Registered Dietitian?
A Registered Dietitian or RD is a Vancouver healthcare professional that helps individuals and communities achieve healthy lifestyles through diet, nutrition and food choices. In a nut shell, a Registered Dietitian provides knowledge, skills and support for clients to embark on their journey to better health through better food.
Why is it important for me to seek nutrition advise from an expert?
In today’s world, nutrition information is ubiquitous. While it is great that people are becoming more aware of how food choices affect their health, navigation through the media can become very overwhelming. Often, people fall victims of misleading nutrition information and marketing tactics.
A Registered Dietitian is trained to help clarify and demystify nutrition information. RDs are trusted experts in nutrition because of their highly regulated career training. A RD is certified by the provincial regulatory body, The College of Dietitians of British Columbia. The certification requires a 5 year Bachelor of Science in Food, Nutrition and Health with a major in Dietetics, which includes a 1 year practicum with a provincial health authority. Additionally, all RDs must successfully complete the nationwide Dietetics Examination.
How can a Registered Vancouver Dietitian help me?
A Registered Dietitian will help you incorporate healthier eating practices and food choices into your specific lifestyle. There is not cookie-cutter approach for health through nutrition, hence an RD will guide you in self-defining your nutrition health goals and will provide resources and practical skills to attain them. Some examples of what you can gain are: personalized diets and lifestyle programs, easy-to-make recipes, cooking tips and techniques, nutrition label-reading skills, supplemental recommendations, grocery store tours, motivational counselling and emotional/ mental support for goal attainment.
I am trying to lose weight can an RD help me?
Most definitely! Instead of going on a crash diet or the newest diet craze, an RD will guide you on making lifestyle changes so that you loose weight in a natural, enjoyable, and transformative way. There is no sense in going on fad diets, as they only aim to change eating behaviours over the short term. These yo-yo diets most often result in regaining lost weight and decreased self-esteem. A RD will provide on-going support so that weigh loss is maintained over long term. By focusing on a healthful diet that sustains your life and health goals, you will naturally shed all the weight the body doesn’t need.
I am looking to cleanse, how should I go about it?
Cleansing is a great way to rid the body of toxic build-up. However, it is imperative to prepare the body for detoxification and make sure that the cleanse you do is right for your body and your goals. The biggest mistake is jumping into an extreme cleanse that may be too harsh for the body and can cause more ill effects than positive benefits. Having professional support during detoxification is important to ensure safety and allow the body to obtain the benefits.
Can Nutrition affect my skin?
Proper nutrition is vital to healthy glowing skin. Whether you suffer from acne, eczema, dry skin or any other skin condition, our skin is directly affected by what we eat. Often when our body develops sensitivity to something we have ingested, our skin is the first to show signs of such a reaction. Our skin is an important detox-organ that is often neglected. Cleanse diets and Elimination diets may help restore health to your skin. Supplements and herbal remedies can complement dietary changes to heal the skin.
I am pregnant, how should my diet change?
It is imperative to speak with your Primary Physician regarding pregnancy. A Registered Dietitian can help you ensure you are eating adequately to meet your needs and that of your growing baby. This is a great time for women to tune-in into their diets to ensure energy and nutrients such as iron, protein, folic acid and omega-3 are available to sustain increased growth. According to the Barker Hypothesis, disturbed growth of a baby in the womb may increase chances of developing chronic illness later in adult life.1 More of a reason for women to be mindful about their diet and food practices during this life phase.
I have been experiencing a lot of fatigue, can my diet be the problem?
Food provides us with energy and vitality. Diet is therefore greatly related to fatigue and lethargy. Our body has to work harder to break down nutrients from processed, conventional foods. This may deplete our energy causing us to feel sluggish. By eating whole foods full of live enzymes, our bodies will be better able to absorb all the vital nutrients that provide the energy for us to live and be active. Additionally, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also contribute to low energy as these nutrients contribute to essential metabolic processes.
Can food play a role in anti-aging?
As we age, our body is less able to fight off pollutants and unstable compounds in our body. Certain foods have natural compounds that help fight and stabilize metabolic reactions in our body. These compounds include antioxidants such as Vitamin A, C, E and phytochemicals like lycopene in tomatoes. An RD can implement a nutrition program enhanced with these beneficial agents, thereby curbing the degenerative and aging process of the body.
I have chronic yeast infections – can a change in diet help?
Yes! Chronic Yeast Infections is due to candidiasis, an imbalance of yeasts in the body. Antibiotics, oral contraceptive, and diets high in refined sugars affect yeast balance in the body, leading to moodiness, sugar cravings and chronic yeast infections. It is beneficial to try candida-diet protocols, anti-microbial foods and specific supplements to keep yeast under control!
How else can an RD help me?
Food is an integral aspect of our lives, from repairing and rebuilding our bodies to granting enjoyment and social connection. A RD can help nurture deficiencies in the body as well as help with emotional and mental connections to food. Furthermore, a RD will support and coach you on your path towards inclusive health of the body, mind and spirit.
Does MSP cover services by a Registered Dietitian?
MSP does not currently cover the cost of seeing a Dietitian. RDs are currently lobbying for this change. However, many extended healthcare plans and health spending accounts cover the cost of seeing a RD. Check your plan to see what is covered for you. If your plan does not offer this coverage, save your receipt for a non-refundable tax credit as Registered Dietitians are classified as Authorized Medical Practitioners.
1 Barker DJ. A new model for the origins of chronic disease. Med Health Care Philos. 2001;4:31-35.
Come in for a Complimentary 15 minute session to see if our Registered Vancouver Dietitian is a good fit to help you Revitalize and Reclaim
your health by Optimizing your diet and lifestyle.
