When it comes to the tools of the trade in medical care, most people think of stethoscopes, scalpels, or X-ray and MRI machines.
But what about a knife and fork?
More and more, a dedicated group of individuals is helping people inside and outside of hospitals to prevent, treat, or even help heal what ails them through nutrition. Dieticians and nutritionists specialize in helping people make the connection between what they eat and how it affects their body, applying their knowledge to a wide range of organizations, from hospitals and school districts to their own private practices.
“I think our society and diet culture can put a negative light on food, encouraging restriction and starvation,” said Kelsey McCourt, a registered dietician for Marian Regional Medical Center and Mission Hope Cancer Center. “Food not only nourishes our bodies, but it can help fight disease, help you recover, and also brings people together in a very special way.”
As a dietician, McCourt said she helps provide patients with nutrition counseling, develops individualized nutrition therapy plans, and even teaches nutrition classes in English and Spanish.
“Nutrition is an essential part of a patient’s care plan,” she said. “Cancer patients in particular are a population where meeting their nutrition needs is especially important. It can help optimize and increase their chances for recovery.”
McCourt’s decision to become a dietician began close to home.
“My father was a doctor, so I grew up around someone who worked in health care,” she said. “Through my own journey, I developed a passion for food and exercises, so nutrition was a perfect match to bring both of those aspects together.”
The journey to helping others through nutrition also began in a personal way for Fiona McKiernan. McKiernan, a registered dietician and functional nutritionist, owns Zero to Hero Nutrition in Santa Maria. After a combination of medical conditions left her bedridden, McKiernan said she began to learn about the intersection of food and health in order to help herself get healthy and recover.
“Nutrition became the cornerstone of me getting my health back,” she said. “For me to get better, I had to take a much deeper dive into [the subject].”
Today, McKiernan helps her clients, many of whom suffer from conditons ranging from celiac disease and fibromyalgia to irritable bowel syndrome, develop individualized plans based on their needs.
“For me, it’s a holistic approach that includes nutrition, movement or excercise, sleep, and reducing stress,” she said. “But their diet really is the cornerstone for their health.”
Currently, McKiernan says she has also taken an interest in nutrigenomics, or the study of the intersection between genetic science with nutrition. Such technology could, for example, test a patient’s genes to discover food allergies, nutritional deficiencies, or find out how certain nutrients may impact their health.
“It is really exciting,” McKiernan said. “It’s really the next level of nutrition science.”
While not everyone will decide to dedicate their lives and careers to the study of nutrition, McKiernan noted that everyone can still be aware of the benefits of learning more about how what you consume affects your body.
“I think people tend to underestimate the power of food, and the impact food can have on their health,” she said.
Staff Writer Chris McGuinness can be reached at cmcguiness@newtimesslo.com
This article appears in Jan 24-31, 2019.