Build Up Catch Up - 8/11/23

Imprecise Precision Nutrition, Book Nook Recommendation, 3 Things You May Have Missed, Your Question Answered, a CPE and more!

Imprecise Precision (Personalized) Nutrition

We all want to feel special and unique, and many are willing to pay extra to experience this. The wellness world doesn’t miss out on the opportunity to offer individualized TLC: apps that track our sleep and advise us that we need more; personalized workouts; individual meal plans based on our genes (nutrigenomics and biohacking); using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM’s) to check our response to different foods; specific vitamin and mineral supplement subscriptions; microbiome testing and (bogus) testing for food sensitivities. Consumers are often eager to embrace the notion that their health can be “hacked” and end up buying into this level of personalized wellness…but is it really beneficial? …or do we just want to believe that?

Studies done in the psychology department at McGill University found that people who are told a treatment is "personalized" (like what we see in "precision" nutrition, nutrigenomics, microbiome testing, or food sensitivity testing and assessment) are more likely to report positive outcomes.

"...people who desire to feel unique might be more influenced by the placebo effect. These people reported more pain relief from the sham personalized treatment."

On nutrigenomics, from McGill University: “Tests conducted in the mid-2000s and a review of the evidence then showed that the promises made by commercial nutrigenomics services were not supported by good science.”

Book Nook Recommendation

“How Medicine Works and When It Doesn’t: Learning Who to Trust to Get Healthy and Stay Healthy” - F. Perry Wilson, MD

A thoughtful look at the state of medicine and medical care today. How alternative medicine and quackery have come to fill the vacuum created by overworked providers and a system that rewards the number of patients a provider sees rather than a relationship with patients. The book also provides important cautionary notes about how to be wary of wellness products, tests and treatments that are overpromised with questionable or even a complete lack of scientific research to prove efficacy.

⚠3 Things You May Have Missed⚠

1. Weight Stigma in the Health Care Setting

“Weight stigma continues to persist within interpersonal interactions between patients and healthcare providers. This phenomenon insidiously impacts upon patients gaining timely and equitable access to required healthcare service.”

The below image was part of a recent post in our Build UP Dietitians PEDIATRICS group. It shows a note from a dietitian to a pediatric patient’s physician and demonstrates how weight stigma may play out to the detriment of pediatric patients.

CPE opportunity: “Respectful, Evidence-Based Care for Children with Elevated BMI” - Thursday 8/17- 8am PST

This webinar reviews the evidence surrounding care for children with elevated BMI from both a nutrition and mental and behavioral health perspective. The impact of weight bias, stigma, and mental health sequelae are also addressed. 

Register: Respectful, Evidence-Based Care for Children w/ Elevated BMI – OneOp

(For access to a weekly newsletter of CPE’s by our moderator Bec McDorman sign up here "Bec's Weekly CEU Roundup" https://groups.google.com/search?q=bec%27s%20weekly%20ceu )

or sign up by email: becmcdorman.msrdnfand@gmail.com

or join our Build Up Dietitians Continuing Ed Group )

2. Don’t Take the LEAP (CLT)

LEAP (Lifestyle Eating and Performance) is a training program. On completing this program a person (even some dietitians) becomes certified as a CLT (Certified LEAP Therapist). This whole program hinges on Mediator Release Testing (MRT) which has been deemed non-evidence-based by CDR (Commission on Dietetic Registration) and why dietitians can’t claim CPE credit for LEAP/MRT activities.

So, when you see dietitians using the CLT credential you should probably think, “WHY?”🤔 or maybe you already know the answer🤑💲 #ethics.

3. Another Type of Infusion Clinic and This Time It’s INSULIN

   

   Insulin infusion clinics are popping up across the country making claims about treating everything from jaw pain and psoriasis to neuropathy and kidney failure. But what does David Nathan, MD, director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and a world-renowned leader in diabetes research think?

   “… if this were true, it would be in a major medical journal," Nathan said.

   "I just find it frankly offensive for people to be selling a treatment that has not been established…”

   And from John Buse, MD, director of the University of North Carolina Diabetes Care Center, "I have not been able to find well-conducted controlled randomized clinical trials to substantiate their claims. What I am concerned about is the evidence of efficacy of the process."

   ❓Your Questions Answered❓

Question: Does Build Up Dietitians work with food brands?

Answer: No, since 2014 we have made the intentional decision to avoid working with food brands (CPGs), however we do work with food commodities and checkoffs (e.g. Soy, Pork, NC Sweetpotatoes, Peanut Board, National Dairy etc) as well as various nutrition organizations and information groups (e.g. FARE, Animal Ag Alliance, IFIC, ASN, ASPEN).

If you’d like to learn more about working with Build UP Dietitians to engage with dietitians/RD2B/NDTR through our social media platform or events, email: builduprdns@gmail.com