#TLDR

• As a health professional, it’s essential — and more difficult than ever — to operate with the most reliable, reputable information.
• Knowing who funds the research is a great way to know whether information is biased and unreliable
• Research institutions and clinical studies are the best ways to gather recent nutrition information.
• Use social media warily.

To get to the root cause of your client’s problems, you need to know the right information.

Whether you graduated 5 or 15 years ago, chances are, the health and nutrition world has learned a lot, through cutting-edge research and clinical studies published every day.

So naturally, as a health professional who supports clients through their health goal, it’s essential you’re opperating off the most up-to-date information.

“We’re learning so much throughout the years”

“From the time I graduated 10 years ago, we've grown so much as an industry,” says Heather, “There's always a lot of subtle changes that may not seem worth mentioning, but I feel like, you know, every day there's something new.  We really need to be able to keep ourselves educated -- to be able to provide the best knowledge for our clients.”

But how?

Especially in a world where misinformation runs rampant, and you can find an “expert” on every corner of the internet. How do you know if a resource is valid or not?

“A lot of it is conflicting information.”

If you’ve performed nutrition research before, you know that often, research conflicts with other research.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to stick with reputable sources, and to understand that our scientific understanding of nutrition and human health is evolving all the time.

“You really need to filter through and be able to recognize what is valuable or not,” Says Healther, “That's why that's why clients hire us --  to be able to do that job for them.”

“And I think as a holistic nutritionist, a lot of our education was focused around teaching us how to be able to do that, and how to be able to read the research and know what sources are good, and see who's funding the research. And, you know, and we're, you know, get to the bottom of everything.”

Know Who Funds the Research.

Perhaps the most important way to “get to the bottom of everything” is to know who funds the research. (Because it might not be research at all — it might just be marketing.)

When you’re reading a research article or watching a YouTube video, (or reading any claim by anyone), ask yourself:

• Does this person or organization have a vested interest in having people believe this assertion?
• Are they selling a product or service that relies on their claims being correct?

If so, take their claims with a grain of salt.

Where to Find the Most Up-To-Date Nutrition Information

Stay on the cutting-edge of nutrition science by leveraging the following resources

• Research Universities and Associations

Research Universities (think: Harvard Health, Stanford Medicine, Johns Hopkins, and others) have tons of money to devote to the best research methods, and are typically generous with sharing their findings online. (You can even contact the leading researchers to ask them questions!)

• Peer Reviewed Clinical Studies

Go to scholar.google.com and search anything you need to know. You can change your search criteria to show only studies newer than a certain year, to make sure you’re not grabbing insight from the 1980s.

From Google Scholar, you can find cutting-edge nutrition research published in the world’s most renowned journals: Pub Med, Jama, Diabetes Journals, and more.

• Professional Health Organizations

Healthline, WebMD, Cleveland Clinic, Nutrition.gov… all of these are reputable sources you can always turn to if you have a question.

What About Nutrition Information on Facebook and Social Media?

“Take it with a grain of salt,” Heather says.

That said, a lot of nutritionists and health professionals can be found on the Facebook platform now. A good nutritionist will give the information and tell you where they found that information to ensure it’s backed up.

For more information about Heather and her work, find her on Facebook at Healthy Heather- Holistic Nutrition, Cancer Coach & Naturopath.

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