Here are some thoughts lately about having this degree in nutrition and deciding not to become a dietitian.
It can be hard to explain my reasoning when I myself am still sort of figuring out why it just doesn’t feel right. I certainly love food and I enjoy being healthy – whatever your definition of healthy is. BUT I think that America is in this phase of food obsession called nutritionism. It is this idea that single nutrients are more important than the sum of parts that make up a food. Read Michael Pollan for more info [In Defense of Food].
The obsession with the mediterranean diet for example – not to say its a bad diet – but there is this fad of trying to figure out what it is that the mediterraneans eat to be so much healthier than we are. Is it the Omega-3? Vitamins? Fiber? What are they doing that we don’t know about?! (hint, maybe its the sum of all the parts including their lifestyle)
The obsessive search for the perfect nutrient is a) time consuming b) doesn’t portray the actual food products and c) takes the focus off of why certain foods are paired together just because they taste good and not for maximal nutrition content. Take the Italians who eat tomatoes and olive oil together because the oil brings out the flavor of the tomato, not because the omega-3’s enhance the lycopene absorption from tomatoes. That just happens to be a happy outcome of pairing two yummy foods together to make a yummier dish.
I want people to be healthy and stuff but I don’t know if I can support a system that is so regimented and stiff and guilt inducing, at least in my experience. I know dietitians are so important for many other reasons.
This person should have this many calories and this many things of vitamins and fat and whatever. I get the importance of balance, but maybe my views are just a bit looser. And I am perfectly ok with that for my own lifestyle. I have more fun and can enjoy the occasional donut just because I feel like it. Or I can enjoy the occasional fruit smoothie because I feel like it and it makes me feel good.
Balance. Donuts and smoothies, breakfast of champions anyone?
I think I am more concerned and passionate about feeding people that literally need the basics. Not to be tied up with the trends of vegan diets or organic versus non organic or the supercool foods of today’s foodie world. I totally like to splurge on the occasional kombucha or chia seeds or some other food trend, but do I really need that stuff? No.
How can I best live my life to portray my food beliefs? I believe that nobody deserves to be hungry. Or that nobody should be sick because they are nutrient deficient. I am passionate about figuring out how to make those things a reality. About feeding people who really need it. Which is what I hope to learn more about by going back to school – how can I make that passion a part of my professional life?
So next time you read an article about nutrients or go to buy those multivitamins, remember how lucky you are, and be grateful for having the luxury of worrying about getting enough calcium or omega-3, when the world is full of people worrying about their next meal.