Menu of Nutritious Healthcare Careers
By Ed Bauman, MEd, PhD

The link between eating right and better health is hard to ignore, so it's not surprising that careers in nutrition and diet are becoming more popular. There are more jobs than ever in nutrition today, and the trend continues to grow. If you are interested in being part of the nutrition and healthcare industry, a menu of opportunities awaits you. When considering a career in food coupled with healthcare, most people think of dieticians managing food programs in hospitals. Nutrition professionals also work in a variety of venues, including healthcare facilities, schools (private and public), colleges and universities, corporations, clinics, web sites, food companies, health spas, hotels, restaurants, magazines and other publications, retirement villages, nursing homes, gyms, cruise ship companies, airlines, and sports teams. Nutrition Consultants, for example, provide whole foods nutrition and healthy lifestyle counseling to clients in clinical settings, hospitals, healthcare facilities and institutions. These individuals work directly with a client and the client's physician to assurethat their nutritional needs are met.

Nutrition Consultants
As a Nutrition Consultant, you work with clients to help them develop healthy eating habits as part of an integrative care treatment plan. In some cases, you may be able to help a person make important changes in diet and lifestyle which may make a crucial difference in resolving health issues or even saving their lives. A client's health issues may include eating disorders, obesity, diabetes Type 2, cancer, heart disease, digestive disorders, pain, allergies and immune functioning.

Nutrition Educator
As Nutrition Educators, you can have the opportunity to help people make positive changes in their eating habits. Nutrition Educators work with diabetics, helping them to learn how to regulate the disease by making smart food choices. They advise people with heart disease on heart-healthy foods and how to make good dietary choices and long-lasting lifestyle changes. They also teach people or groups how to choose foods for weight management, teach clients how to create and maintain a healthier lifestyle, develop nutritious menus (bland, soft, salt-free, sugar-free and lactose-free) for patients in healthcare facilities with special health problems and needs, and provide nutritious menus for food service in large corporations or school systems.

Natural Chef
The proof is in the pudding, my mother used to say. Natural chefs work with individual families and groups to provide delicious and nutritious meals. Being a Natural Chef may involve cooking for a busy family on-the-go or cooking for a person with a health challenge, such as cancer or diabetes. In any case, menus and recipes are created to meet the specific tastes, needs and budget of your clients. Natural Chefs can be involved in wellness meal planning, shopping and food preparation, catering special events and parties, therapeutic meal planning and food preparation, teaching cooking classes and workshops, managing food service programs at care facilities, consulting with restaurants to provide the Eating for Health dishes, writing cookbooks, or doing television shows on the food channel and local cable stations.