From: BillK (bill@wkidston.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Wed May 07 2003 - 09:18:26 MDT
The National Council Against Health Fraud
http://www.ncahf.org/index.html
in their latest newsletter,
http://www.ncahf.org/digest03/03-18.html
have just noted:
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The state of Florida has started an active campaign to help protect the
public from unlicensed nutrition practitioners.
Billboards are going up around the state saying:
"Are you losing more than weight? Unlicensed diet and nutrition advice
is dangerous. Follow the advice of a licensed dietitian/nutritionist or
nutrition counselor."
This campaign is financed from licensure fees. The Florida Dietetics and
Nutrition Practice Council
http://www9.myflorida.com/mqa/dietetics/nd_home.html oversees the
licensure of about 3,000 dietitian/nutritionists (who have accredited
degrees and at least 900 hours of supervised training) and 280 nutrition
counselors (less qualified individuals who were grandfathered when the
law was passed). As of January 2003, 42 states, Washington DC, and
Puerto Rico have some level of licensure or certification for nutrition
professionals, but Florida appears to be the first to warn against using
unlicensed practitioners.
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Perhaps we should stop discussing diet advice? A lot of the so-called
diet advice on the net comes from people or companies with their own
business interests at heart. i.e. Buy my book(s), buy my training
courses, buy my special supplements, buy my special diet food, buy, buy,
buy, buy ......
For every site advocating lean meat, there is another advocating fatty
meat and another advocating no meat at all. Every variation of diet
under the sun has a site on the net with some sort of analysis or
reports seeming to justify their particular opinion.
One important point all advocates of particular diet regimes should
remember is that everyone's metabolism is different. And people of
different ages and lifestyles have different requirements. What works
for gts might bring me out in spots or make Mike's hair fall out.
Remember the politician that turned blue from the silver supplement he
was taking? Or the anorexia nervosa girls dying because they are
frightened of all foods?
Going for self medication is starting down a pretty risky path without
doing very detailed analysis of yourself. Blood tests, allergies,
cholesterol levels and so on. A professional can do all these tests
before discussing his recommendations with you.
Please tread carefully if you go the DIY route.
BillK
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