Nutritionist vs. dietitian

A Dietitian is the Same as a Nutritionist

Actually, the title is a lie. There is a significant difference between the two callings mentioned above. Even though many people do not know the differences between a dietitian and a nutritionist, these do exist and there are several distinctive features one needs to know instead of using the two nouns interchangeably. They are hardly the same and, for the sake of being right, read the lines below for additional explanation.

A Dietitian is Not the Same as a Nutritionist

First of all, the main, initial difference between the two is the depth of a calling. Namely, being a dietitian is a professional state, meaning that you have finished medical school and became the dietitian through proper education. These people have a degree and are closely connected to doctors, being something like a doctors of nutrition. On the other hand, any person can happen to be a nutritionist, as soon as they are working in a health food store. Thus, being a dietitian is far more complicated and it requires a certain amount of knowledge, apart from being a nutritionist which requires being in charge of a facility related to healthy food.

Apart from nutritionists, a dietitian, before he/she became what he/she is now, had to finish a college or a university and get a bachelor's degree in dietetics. Also, this person has to have done at least 900 hours of internship, has to have passed all the necessary exams and had to achieve additional 50 educational points yearly in order to be capable of keeping their dietitian license.

Apart from a dietitian, a nutritionist does not have to be qualified for this line of work, nor can he/she work in a hospital or some more advanced health institution. However, this person may possess certain amounts of knowledge about proper nutrition which gives him/her the right to be called a nutritionist even though this individual has no licensed education to back up this knowledge.

Still, even though dietitians know a lot more and are far more experienced than nutritionists, they both can plan out a diet schedule for a person suffering from some health problems. Also, they both educate people about the importance of eating and living healthy.

The difference is solely in education. Thus, since education is not a minor thing and a dietitian had to go through quite some effort during the course of schooling, people of his/her calling are considered to be a renown professionals even though this does not mean that a nutritionist may not help you greatly.