Diet Counselling

Dietary counselling is a form of investigation for your health needs and recommends a type of diet and lifestyle changes to achieve your goals. It may assist in the prevention of nutritionally related illnesses such as obesity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Diet can be defined as the oral intake of food that provides energy and nourishment. A balanced diet means providing each nutrient in balance to maintain optimal health. It is important to have a balanced diet because our muscles, organs, and tissues need good nutrition to work effectively. Without a balanced diet, the body is more prone to infections, diseases, poor performance, and fatigue. Our sensory, emotional, social, and cultural amalgamations influence our food choices.

One of the key aspects of dietary counselling is a personalised, step-by-step approach so that results can be achieved quickly. Individualised dietary counselling can provide important insights about food related illnesses and education. It can assist in the prevention of weight-related conditions. Nutritional counselling helps with weight loss, a healthy diet plan, or feeling better. Diet counsellors begin by interviewing the patient, the factors that are contributing to the problem, and the patient's personality. First, an interview can be used as a diagnostic aid. Eating habits and food selection can determine one's general or dental health. Second, understanding a person’s daily routine is key to adapting a preventive diet. This adaptation will adhere the patient to a new diet with the aim of achieving health goals. Third, results from nutritional assessment can be used to research practical contributions to food habits, dietary intake, socioeconomic status, and physical conditioning, among others. Diet counselling is not effective if it is not presented in small increments. The next dietary plan should not be attempted until the previous goal has been met. Involving the patient more in this process will yield greater results. With the active participation of the patient, he can evaluate his or her diet and adhere to a new regimen. Tools used in dietary counselling include diet histories, food frequency questionnaires, food records, and biochemical indices. Effective nutritional counselling may include a comprehensive evaluation of disease, height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, body fat, and lipid profiles.

Diet counselling makes the patient aware of the fact that diet plays a crucial role in the treatment of disease. Diet counselling helps reduce the risk of disease. Collate all information about likes, dislikes, and the patient’s perception of food that may cause the problem. Develop and implement a plan of action. A diet is prescribed by counsellors consisting of gradual and qualitative modifications of the diet using acceptable food choices. There should be an incentive for small achievements; by doing so, the patient can be motivated. If the patient do not follow nutritional guidance, they will not receive any help from dietary counselling. A counsellor’s positive attitude can stimulate the patient towards an improved dietary pattern. Self-preservation, love, recognition, and money are some of the factors that motivate patients.