What are /r/dietetics' favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

• I really love this reference book Nutrition and Diagnosis-Related Care which is $40 on amazon
• I also find "Food Medication Interactions" by Zaneta M Pronsky really helpful but I've found this this is out of print often and they sell at marked up prices unless you can find an old one. The edition doesn't matter than much. There are other food/drug interaction books out there but I've never looked them over so I don't have a substitute.
• A small flip notebook or small legal pad and a pen. I find it helpful to write myself small notes about what the patients says during the interview so I don't forget to chart anything afterwards. I'm writing myself one to four word phrases to job my memory. Don't worry patients don't care if you write notes.

Y'all. I just went to Groupon's main sight, typed in "nutritionist" in the search bar and found this: https://www.groupon.com/deals/shaw-academy-231-san-angelo

This one doesn't seem as bad, but I'm still a bit irritated: https://www.groupon.com/deals/national-association-for-fitness-certification-10-san-angelo

When will the madness end? I plan to contact Groupon about this (I'm assuming there's a loophole or something where they get away with this??), but I'm not sure what good it will be. Maybe if we ask the Academy about this sort of thing?

If you're on Android(not sure if they have an iPhone version) I found this app really helpful. You can set questions per exam, and it times you as well. I found it really helpful when dealing with the test anxiety side of things.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pocketprep.rd

Talk to your advisor or someone with experience with the internship interview process. Ask them how you can take this and make it into a positive. You don't want to lose the chance to talk about the experience you gained, but you don't want to seem bitter about it either.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140618173704-136958930-you-re-fired-how-to-turn-this-into-a-positive-experience

Something thing I plan to do after I graduate/intern/start missing school (I'm a junior in my dietetics program) is to start taking courses on Coursera! Lectures are posted from top universities and they have assignments and discussions with other people taking the course--the best part--they have quite a few nutrition courses!! I have added the link at the bottom, happy learning!! :)

https://www.coursera.org/courses?search=nutrition

But wait, there's more. This, along with several other articles, is part of the growing body of research and perspective countering the notion that saturated fats are "bad". Many people (primarily in the fitness forums) think they have nutritionists & dietitians beat because they have this bit of knowledge when it's not most dietitians' focus, but it's still important that all nutrition/dietitian professionals read up and stay on top of the very same topics the lay person is interested in.

I used this app for my exam to study and felt the questions were fairly close to what I was asked

Granted that was half a decade ago.

You’re welcome. I’m sure my comment was a little convoluted and all over the place. I think your knowledge of biochemistry, endocrinology, etc. is great but 65% of your patients don’t wanna know those things or cant understand those things. So that’s why making sure you understand the social circumstances of your patient first matter so much. For example, let’s say you’re taking the gallbladder out. And it’s a low fat diet. You probably don’t have extended amount of times to counsel on low fat diet. But you can ask them if they know what a low-fat diet means. Do they have access to Lowfat options? Do they know how to cook lowfat options? Are they 80 years old, and if so, who’s cooking a low-fat diet for them? These questions, and answers matter more in the long run, versus you telling them what kinds of food to eat. If youve eatablished they are educated rnough, have the means, and can follow your advice THEN specific nutrition advice is warranted.

The Nutrition Care Manual is a great book: https://www.nutritioncaremanual.org/

Krause Medical Nutrition Therapy is kind if gold standard: https://www.amazon.com/Krause-Mahans-Food-Nutrition-Process/dp/0323636551/ref=asc_df_0323636551/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=431080777109&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8347983813209752851&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&h...

I’ve also been consuming cannabis daily for years and just passed a urine drug test to get hired at the SNF I interned at. My preceptor called me randomly and offered me a job so I only had 4 days before the test. I used Detoxify xxtraclean and these Detoxify Pre-Cleanse capsules.. I did tell my preceptor that I was using cannabis in case it came up as it’s legal where I live and I wasn’t job hunting when she called, but I ended up passing. The drink and capsules dilute your urine and contain creatine and riboflavin to mask it. Let me know if you want more info on this method.

I also work remotely for a prominent nutrition science company and wasn’t tested for this role. I was actually provided documents that stated I just need to keep alcohol or cannabis use outside of my work hours. This company is also based out of a state where it is recreationally legal. It does depend but you should just assume you will be tested to be safe and try to quit for at least 30 days before job hunting. It is my understanding that synthetic urine isn’t worth the risk as they test for it. Also, my friend passed a drug test using her boyfriend’s urine and sneaking it in with a temperature-control thermos from Best Buy. She had to do that because she knew she was being tested at a lower cut off than most tests. Good luck!

MNT you'll want Krause. Kind of pricy but you'll use it all through your career. Linked version is the current printed edition, a new one's coming out in September with info on trans care, infectious disease, COVID MNT, etc. so may be worth waiting if the new bits interest you. Also don't be afraid to go back an edition to save money buying used, just don't go too far back since you want the bulk of the info to be up to date.

A&P I don't have any book recommendations I'm afraid. That said, Krause will give an overview of relevant organ systems to the disease state so you may find you don't need a more generic A&P brush-up to go along with it.

I totally understand what you're going though - that being said, have some grace on yourself. You're not a pharmacist. You will get more familiar with medications with time. I'd encourage you to look up medications (time permitting) that you're finding you come across often so that you're familiar with their indications for use/any nutrition implications. There's also an awesome CEU book out there that I found super helpful: https://www.amazon.com/Meded101-Guide-Drug-Food-Interactions/dp/B08D53GVFQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17HN9R9KYE3VH&keywords=drug+nutrient+interactions&qid=1655425153&sprefix=drug+nutrient+interactions%2Caps%2C541&sr=8-1

Don't waste your money. I could probably write a page on everything that was wrong with that site.

Coursera is a much better option for personal learning. They have several nutrition courses intended for an educated lay audience, all created and taught by University faculty. And all FREE.

Here is an example ad if you don't believe me (though, this one technically starts at $32 and offers up to $46). http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=ea74935ad030c970&q=Dietitian&l=Oregon&tk=1av3mmnem158kbni&from=ja&alid=57571987e4b0696dd05ff800&utm_source=jobseeker_emails&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=job_alerts

I'm a fan of The Essential Pocket Guide for Clinical Nutrition

I used it almost daily when I started and I still reference it often. It fits in my scrubs pocket so I could take it to the floor if I wasn't confident about an education or a patient's condition(s) in case they had questions.

I used dietitianexam.com. I had Jean but could never listen to it for more than 10 minutes before losing focus. Dietitianexam.com has a lot of practice exams and modules covering each topic. I made virtual flash cards on ANKI (https://apps.ankiweb.net) rating my confidence in my correct and wrong answers. Questions I felt more confident about showed up less frequently in the deck saving time and giving me more exposure to the topics I needed work on.

I speak to a lot of dietitians who are frustrated and feel lost when it comes to building a career for themselves. Have you ever though of starting your own private practice? Creating a business for yourself can be tremendously rewarding in all the area's you've mentioned!

And there are so many resources to help you along the way. For example, my company, Healthie, does a webinar just about how to start your practice! There's one starting on January 3rd, and it's led by a dietitian with her own private practice, who's done it before. You might want to join and see if that helps! And all of Healthie is here to help along the way too!

I tell them their calories and encourage them to use the information in the context of intuitive eating. Intuitive eating signals are heavily influenced by emotional states. For some people it really takes a lot of getting used to. If we don’t give them some sort of calorie basis to start with they can feel like a complete failure and that’s the end of that.

I also use it in the context of label reading and helping them understand how added sugar and high sodium foods can affect appetite and satiety signaling. A book that was helpful with explaining what I was trying to convey was this book by Gary Taubes. Especially the concept of hyper palatabilty.

Hope that helps!!

It’s always been important to me not to let my bias affect how I counsel. By offering a combination of both I felt like i was ultimately letting my clients have more autonomy.

I'm uncertain what you mean by "viable" here, perhaps you could explain.

The field is, IME, fascinating, and NIH/NIDDK is making a big push in the area as well.

That said, expectations need to be reasonable. There's the quackery "blood type" diets that promise if you eat a given way for your blood type you'll drop pounds and have perfect health-- while some day in the distant future this could be possible it's highly unlikely we'll see it any time somewhat soon. That's not really what nutrigenetics is at this point. Right now it's more about understanding the interplay between the genome, the environment, and health. So more reasonable applications are things like we know genetics impacts whether or not alcohol tastes bitter or if your blood pressure will respond to salt reduction. Knowing this we can approach interventions for alcoholism with more knowledge, we can determine if someone is even going to respond to DASH before putting them on it for hypertension, etc.

That's the present and near-future of precision nutrition: Knowing specific interactions to be aware of and possibly plan around. That said, it's not out of the realm of imagination that one day we will be able to completely engineer ideal diets, but the amount of knowledge and technology required not just from nutrigenetics but also from food science realms on that means it's, IMO, a long way off.

This is a good overview text that isn't too difficult to get into for someone who already has at least a basic nutrition foundation.

I have had some pancreatic cancer patients who had burping and indigestion but no diarrhea so the doctor wouldn’t prescribe creon. They have found some luck with pure encapsulations.

Pure Encapsulations - Digestive Enzymes Ultra - Comprehensive Blend of Digestive Enzymes - 180 Capsules https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016X8Y0S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_4Kw5FbBAVW9DJ

6PM often has discount Dansko and Sanita's. You have to keep an eye out for normal colors though.

I personally like Sanita better but follow your heart. Amazon sometimes has them for closer to $75-80. I have these( https://www.amazon.com/Sanita-Womens-Professional-PU-Clog/dp/B01MXJD24B/ref=cts_sh_1_vtp ) and like them.

Something that we were recommended was called the Pocket Guide to Nutrition Assessments. It was super helpful- still is!

Here’s the newest version New edition

OR the one I have you can buy on Amazon. here

It's a bit dated, but cheap to buy. The advice has basically not changed. Healthy diet is healthy diet. Michael Pollan's books are also well reviewed and written.

https://www.amazon.com/What-Eat-Marion-Nestle/dp/0865477388

I have used both a dictionary and an interactive text. If you are just looking for a book that will allow you to look up terms, any medical terminology dictionary will work. If you want to spend time learning medical terms (like prefixes/suffixes), I recommend Medical Terminology Systems: A Body Systems Approach.

Medical Terminology Systems

"Advanced Nutrition and Metabolism" by Sareen Gropper is an excellent resource for nutritional biochemistry. It's definitely not basic by any means but with a background in neuropsychology, I'm definitely not worried about you. ha I'm sure you can handle it!

https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Nutrition-Metabolism-Sareen-Gropper-ebook/dp/B01NAJVAWR

This was my introductory nutrition textbook. I’m sure you could find it cheaper used or as an e-book.

It’s a solid introductory book. It was for my nutrition 101 class (Intro to Nutrition). Can you take an introductory nutrition class at your local college? That’s a great place to start.

If you are wanting to learn more about becoming a Registered Dietitian, search this sub for posts. Lots of great info in here! Good luck.

Thanks for the response! From reading up on the reviews, it seems to be very agnostic in terms of trying to push an agenda, and is instead just focused on facts, which is great!!

I'm all for picking up books that get the point across but aren't all about being trendy and sexy -- I just want facts, haha.

In regards to books that are perhaps sexy and trendy, what are some red flags to look for? For example, another user recommended this book, How Not to Die, and it seems to be a book written for people who aren't experts -- does that fall into the same category as the Bulletproof diet guy?

I really struggled academically until I had a professor teach me to learn by active recall. Basically, you need to be able to explain your notes without looking at them. I would write down questions from my notes for thirty minutes, then spend fifteen trying to answer them, marking any that I didn't know. Then I would take a break. I would try and do several of these study blocks each day. You can't procrastinate with this method, but I went from a C/B student to a straight A student in one semester. Remember to focus on content you don't know.

Find an activity to get involved in. I was overly involved because I was a tour guide, worked in a research lab, volunteered with Meals on Wheels, was a resident assistant, was in an honor society, nutrition club, volunteered as English as a second language conversation partner, and did meal planning/grocery shopping at my cooperative house. I kind of burned myself out and would recommend just joining one or two activities, but being really involved.

I highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-College-Surprising-Countrys/dp/0767917871

Lifestride Capstone shoes are the best I've found. They pinch a little in the toe as you break them in, but for being a mini-wedge, non-clompy, work-appropriate shoe (that also claims to be slip-resistant), it's just about the best I've found for my wide feet.

http://www.amazon.com/Motivational-Interviewing-Nutrition-Fitness-Applications/dp/1462524192

I actually haven't read it yet, but I took a semester class with her and attended a webinar that she did as well. I found the class and webinar to be helpful and I've been meaning to read the book. It also has some Health at Every Size stuff in there as well, so you might not like it if you aren't into that.

This one is based on working within weight management, however the motivational interviewing techniques and behaviour change strategies can be transferred to many different areas. It's a great book! If you're UK based, she also runs courses too.

For anyone coming back to this thread in the future, a current intern recommended this lab coat from Amazon.

Turns out this is a hot commodity right now. Thank you for letting know what you use. Here is where to find it once they are in stock again: http://www.foodmedinteractions.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Medication-Interactions-17th-Edition/dp/0971089655

Oh I question the vast majority of the scientific evidence behind DRIs! It's all based on money, money, money and a few distorted research studies. Do you know that at one point, the WHO was going to reduce their sugar guidelines, and the sugar industry got so angry that they convinced the US government to send a person to the WHO and basically blackmail them into not changing it? And the majority of the "Mediterranean" diet guidelines are based on one very flawed study which picked and chose data that corroborated the scientist's hypothesis?

If you're interested in this topic, I highly recommend the book Death by Food Pyramid

I got it through my library, and then bought a copy for myself and a copy to loan to people. Then again, I'm a nutrition book collector and buy every good nutrition book I can get my hands on, haha. There is just so much information out there that they don't teach you in college or an internship!

If you're still interested after that book, I also recommend: Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition

T Colin Campbell gets a lot of flack in the nutrition world, and I think he does deserve some of it, but this book has a lot of good information about just how flawed the DRIs are. You'll never look at the AND the same way again.