What Integrative Nutrition Scam Claims Overlook

Losing weight and getting healthy isn’t a scientific mystery. We all know that it generally comes down to eating the right foods (but not too much of them) and staying active. The thing is, if it were so easy, wouldn’t everyone be at a healthy weight? In the end, there are all sorts of obstacles that stop people from eating healthily and exercising. Most people have jobs that require sitting for long periods of time. Then there are all the unhealthy but overwhelmingly tempting ways to relieve stress: watching TV rather than taking a walk. Eating a comforting bowl (or two) of ice cream rather than talking to a friend. We often get into these habits at a surprisingly young age, and they are habits that are really difficult to change.

That’s where the need for health coaches comes in – they can help people make realistic, attainable health and wellness goals. Then they offer support and guidance to help people take the steps to achieve them, slowly and sustainably. Integrative Nutrition scam claims tend to overlook the fact that health coaches don’t claim to fill the role of registered dietitians, doctors, or nurses. These medical professionals play a really important role in today’s healthcare system. Unfortunately, they obviously aren’t enough – they offer the medical expertise and diagnosis, but don’t have the time or interest to hold someone’s hand and make sure that their patients are actually taking the medical advice. Health coaches can work side by side with doctors and dietitians to help people take the prescribed treatment plan and make it a reality.

Health coaches are already making waves in the health and wellness industry and have achieved a high level of respect from many reputable sources, and that’s another thing that Integrative Nutrition scam accusations ignore. Health coaches work in doctor’s offices and wellness centers, own their own restaurants and health food lines, and help people change their lives one day at a time, for good. In an interview on CNN, Dr. Oz explained how health coaches could change America:

“If we can change the culture of wellness in America … For example, health coaches, which could be a tier of healthcare providers which don’t cost a lot to train but could actually provide that infrastructure to people to make it easy to do the right thing. If we can make that happen in America, we could cut our costs, and then everything else would fall into place.”

The quality of the YouTube video is pretty bad, but you can hear what Dr. Oz has to say about health coaches for yourself here:

In the end, claims about an Integrative Nutrition scam and criticisms about the health coaching profession don’t seem to be founded in much reality.