The word holistic, by definition, refers to the integration of the three main aspects of humans; the mind, body and soul. With the medical field currently in a state of transition, holistic medicine has become quite popular in the past few decades. Today more and more people are talking about holistic nutrition as a means of achieving good health and freedom from diseases to a great extent.
Definition of holistic nutrition
Holistic nutrition refers to the use of “whole” foods to nourish our bodies. By “whole” foods they refer to those naturally available foods which are complete in their own aspects. In short these are naturally grown, organic seasonal foods with a rich nutrient content unlike processed food which have no nutrient content. Following the ideology that a healthy diet and good health go hand in hand, today a number of holistic nutrition schools have come up to academically train people to become holistic nutritionists.
What does a holistic nutritionist do
The work of a holistic nutritionist is to form a patient specific diet chart which will aid in the total healing of the whole body and not specific isolated symptoms. In order to do this, they
- Evaluate the lifestyle of a patient,
- Introduce him to healthy eating habits,
- Create patient specific customised diet charts or meal plans
- Introduce and develop stress management skills and
- Educate the patient and general public as a whole on the benefits of holistic wellness as a key to a good mind, soul and body.
Education and basic qualifications
Becoming a holistic nutritionist is still an emerging field whose growing popularity has enabled many universities and colleges to offer courses in this field. These holistic nutrition schools basically offer
- A complete and comprehensive holistic nutrition education program pre-approved by the National Association of Nutrition Professionals or NANP, dealing in
- Nutrition which educates them about the benefits and usage of different naturally available foods,
- Pathophysiology which deals with the disorder suffered by various physiological processes as a result of disease or an injury,
- Introductory Herbology dealing with the proper use and benefits of plants exclusively for medicinal purposes,
- Nutritional counselling and supplementation and
- Comparative dietary processes and systems.
- The opportunity to acquire a minimum of 500 hours or hands-on work experience practising holistic nutrition and
- A chance to appear and pass the examination on holistic nutrition conducted by the Holistic Nutrition Credentialing Board thereby becoming a qualified and certified holistic nutritionist.
With people actually looking towards alternative means of improving and maintaining their lifestyle, the field of holistic nutrition is slowly but steadily getting its due recognition as a means of achieving a healthy disease free life.
