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Much to my surprise, I find myself feeling great empathy, for the newly qualified dietitian. Imagine the typical scenario. After flogging through University to get your degree, and accepted as a member of the British Dietetic Association, you can't wait to get out into the real world and do good. Sounds wonderful and so it should be. However, and it’s very big however. Being very bright and bursting at the seams to learn more, you start to worry, big time. You start to realise much of the so called “evidenced based” science you have been taught, has been funded by junk food companies and big pharma. But it gets worse, much worse!
You can hardly believe your eyes, when you read the outfit you are paying your hard earned money into, the BDA, is being funded and accepting sponsorship from junk food outfits. Surely this cannot be, it’s all lying propaganda, from those gruesome people running blogs, not to mention those money grabbing, book writing, self styled nutritionists. You calm down, put the kettle on, and tuck into a large packet of Belvita biscuits. You chuckle to yourself, and feel a bit dumb, for even entertaining the idea, anyone other than a BDA dietitian, knows anything about a good healthy diet. But it gets worse, much worse!
While surfing around the Internet, between patient appointments, you suddenly begin to realise, much of what you learnt at Uni, is complete baloney. More akin to rants from the local Joo Joo man, and about as scientific, as throwing a pile of witch doctors bones on the floor and taking a guess. Then you wake up, in a cold sweat, good grief, what a horrific nightmare, and wonder why you keep dozing off at work. Maybe too many high carb biscuits for lunch. But it gets worse, much worse!
You start to discover, many of your more senior and more vocal colleagues, are flogging all sorts of junk on Youtube, and you start to ask yourself, why some of the more rubenesque RD’s of a certain vintage, only appear in tightly cropped head shot photographs. You also discover some of your colleagues, are hanging out on social media rubbishing others. Granted, badmouthing that deranged, geriatric reprobate Mitchell and his low carb crew is understandable, possibly acceptable, but A1 rated Science Professors, highly respected Cardiologist’s, GP’s, PhD Nutritionists and Orthopaedic Surgeons. Can it get much worse?
So, you are in a state of shock, how could nutritional science have become so polluted. What are you going to believe, importantly, who are you going to believe. You put on the kettle, bin the free sample Belvita biscuits and think. Being very bright and an independent thinker, you realise you have a very important decision to make, possibly the most important decision of your life. Do you perpetuate the old dogma, the standard totally failed dietary advice, and play it safe, or go out into the world, armed with the latest science and make a real difference. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
You can hardly believe your eyes, when you read the outfit you are paying your hard earned money into, the BDA, is being funded and accepting sponsorship from junk food outfits. Surely this cannot be, it’s all lying propaganda, from those gruesome people running blogs, not to mention those money grabbing, book writing, self styled nutritionists. You calm down, put the kettle on, and tuck into a large packet of Belvita biscuits. You chuckle to yourself, and feel a bit dumb, for even entertaining the idea, anyone other than a BDA dietitian, knows anything about a good healthy diet. But it gets worse, much worse!
While surfing around the Internet, between patient appointments, you suddenly begin to realise, much of what you learnt at Uni, is complete baloney. More akin to rants from the local Joo Joo man, and about as scientific, as throwing a pile of witch doctors bones on the floor and taking a guess. Then you wake up, in a cold sweat, good grief, what a horrific nightmare, and wonder why you keep dozing off at work. Maybe too many high carb biscuits for lunch. But it gets worse, much worse!
You start to discover, many of your more senior and more vocal colleagues, are flogging all sorts of junk on Youtube, and you start to ask yourself, why some of the more rubenesque RD’s of a certain vintage, only appear in tightly cropped head shot photographs. You also discover some of your colleagues, are hanging out on social media rubbishing others. Granted, badmouthing that deranged, geriatric reprobate Mitchell and his low carb crew is understandable, possibly acceptable, but A1 rated Science Professors, highly respected Cardiologist’s, GP’s, PhD Nutritionists and Orthopaedic Surgeons. Can it get much worse?
So, you are in a state of shock, how could nutritional science have become so polluted. What are you going to believe, importantly, who are you going to believe. You put on the kettle, bin the free sample Belvita biscuits and think. Being very bright and an independent thinker, you realise you have a very important decision to make, possibly the most important decision of your life. Do you perpetuate the old dogma, the standard totally failed dietary advice, and play it safe, or go out into the world, armed with the latest science and make a real difference. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
