That’s where health and nutrition experts come in. Nutritionists, dietitians and health coaches can help you sort through and make sense of all the health information out there and, more importantly, make it relevant to you and your needs. The reasons for seeing one of these experts can also be the same, such as a desire to lose weight, reduce stress and stress-related ailments, get through a phase of life smoothly, and improve energy, mood and concentration. Nutritionists focus on the dietary aspect of the client’s wellbeing, so that desired health goals can be achieved through diet and possible supplements, such as weight loss, improved biomarkers and even reversal of chronic disease.
Nutritionists help their clients understand how foods and supplements are digested and assimilated in the body, which helps explain why they recommend certain foods and supplements. I and most lawyers in this industry strongly believe that, without proper licensure in the state in which the patient is located, trainers should not order, diagnose or interpret laboratory tests. This would likely be in violation of the licensed practice of medicine and is the job of licensed medical professionals, not health coaches.
As a health coach, you should not prescribe (or recommend) any nutrition plans, exercise plans, supplements or medications. You, as a health coach, should not act as a medical expert, as you are not acting as a licensed medical professional – even if you are licensed in another area. Nutritionists have specialised training in nutrition and are experts in everything related to diet, food and nutritional needs, including nutrition throughout the life cycle (such as in pregnancy or children) and for specific ailments and conditions. Nutritionists are also qualified to prescribe nutritional supplements, whereas health coaches are not.
Another difference is the approach taken by each modality. Health coaches focus on goal setting; they create strategies and accountability measures for clients to achieve their health goals. Nutritionists, on the other hand, develop nutrition guidelines and plans for the client to work from. Nutritionists help their clients get to the root of their health problems by taking a thorough medical history, evaluating blood tests and performing functional pathology tests.
This could lead a patient to delay or forego altogether the professional and authoritative medical help they need, based on lab tests or some of the medical history that the health coach has not had sufficient training to identify serious problems. Because of her unique combination of being an attorney and health coach, she is able to provide a wealth of information and services to help keep health professionals of all backgrounds safe and legally protected. They create unique nutrition plans for their clients and help them maintain healthy eating habits based on their medical needs. If you go talk to the Academy of Functional Medicine Coaching or the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching that certifies FMCA graduates, along with many others, they will tell you the same thing.
If you are ready for the nutrition knowledge and coaching strategies to take your career to the next level, start here. It’s important that while the health coach is doing all that, you stay within the health coach’s scope of practice. Eating a diet rich in magnesium is amazing for health, but adding a magnesium supplement can provide many benefits if you’re not getting a sufficient amount of magnesium from your diet. So if you’re a personal trainer, health coach or strength coach and a client comes in asking what diet to follow to treat their diabetes, that’s outside your scope of practice.
The court ruled against this claim, upholding the view that the state of Florida has an interest in the safety and health of its citizens. Coaches may provide information on different types of diets and supplement options to explore, but they do not prescribe these types of protocols to clients. Coaches train clients to learn what makes them feel vibrant and healthy, not just what they have been told is “healthy” or what they “should or should not do in relation to their health”. Health coaches are part wellness expert, part mentor-leader, part accountable friend, and part provider of psychological tools or life hacks that help others make better choices.
