10 replies to this topic

[Mind]

The American Dietetic Association is pushing hard for legislating more regulation of the profession "Nutritionist". The end goal seems to be that everyone who dispenses nutritional advice should be licensed(taxed) by government authorities and those who do it without a license should be fined or jailed. Seems worrisome to me. Is there no aspect of life that can be conducted without government interference? Is it being blown out of proportion?

http://www.forbes.co...ic-association/

Through a series of bills it is supporting and lobbying for, the nation’s professional association of dietitians, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics—generally known to the public by its old name, the American Dietetic Association—appears to be gaining legal control over who may provide nutrition counseling in a professional context. The effort also extends through a series of certification trademarks for which the Academy has recently applied.
This past January, the group, founded in 1917 and known for almost a century as the American Dietetic Association, announced it was changing its name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. (I use the old and new name equivalently in this article.)
Last December, before it announced its name change, the Association applied with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a series of certification marks, a type of trademark related to credentialing, for a comprehensive array of nutrition-related professional titles, including:

• Certified Nutrition Associate
• Certified Nutrition Coach
• Certified Nutrition Educator
• Certified Nutrition Manager
• Certified Nutrition Professional
• Registered Nutrition Associate
• Registered Nutrition Coach
• Registered Nutrition Educator
• Registered Nutrition Manager
• Registered Nutrition Professional

The certification mark applications, in conjunction with the name change, suggest that the Academy is attempting to expand its scope and influence, from its decades-old role as the industry group for Registered Dietitians (RDs, who often work in institutional settings such as schools and hospitals), to now touch upon the entire field and professional practice of nutrition.

[Luminosity]

Did you eat your chicken nuggets today?

[cypan]

This kind of thing is simply to be expected. The solution is to blow them off and simply carry out your business, even if the safest and most profitable way to do so is in the black and grey markets. If people demand you get special licenses to give nutritional advice, just avoid them and give the advice anyway. Offer your services freelance for cash, work on stronger community nutritional advice networks (do you realise the wealth of research-cited quality nutritional advice that can be found freely on this very forum even?), and just to really hit these agencies where it hurts, don't count any cash you get from doing such under-table work as income if you do that "tax filing" thing. There's a reason the most thriving and growing marketplaces now are the underground markets. So relax, have fun, and share knowledge with your fellow peers. Don't let these silly control freaks get you stressed. :-)

[ajnast4r]

i agree with tighter regulation wholeheartedly. i think most of the issue here is that healthy people generally do not seak out nutritional couseling, that vast majority are ill and require some sort of medical nutrition therapy. unfortunately there is no real regulation of who can use the word nutritionist and who cant, so you have people with basically fake certifications that seem to be legitimate to the average person, giving often times incorrect advice on how people should manage their health issues. my experience is that the vast majority of people practicing nutrition outside of a clinical setting dont even have a BS in nutrition, let alone post grad degrees or an RD... you have these 'certification boards' that are not acredited or regulated by any legitimate scientific body, with extremely low standards for certification, certifying people as a 'nutritionist' after the equivalent of a mail-order nutrition 101 class. it's dangerous to the public, delegitimizes nutritional science, and makes it very difficult for those of us who have put in the hard work to earn real degrees to earn a living.

[Mind]

I was just worried that - like almost every single piece of regulation in human history - it starts small with "good" intentions, but in the end Longecity is shut down, people are fined and jailed, just for discussing nutrition.

[Luminosity]

Think positive but try to influence the regulation.

[ajnast4r]

I was just worried that - like almost every single piece of regulation in human history - it starts small with "good" intentions, but in the end Longecity is shut down, people are fined and jailed, just for discussing nutrition.

sure, every piece of regulation will have it's issues but i doubt very much that places like longecity will be affected. this push for regulation is really just about tightening up an abonormally slack standards, having clearly defined credientials and making sure the people who are accepting money for counseling are legitimatly trained professionals.

[Mind]

I was just worried that - like almost every single piece of regulation in human history - it starts small with "good" intentions, but in the end Longecity is shut down, people are fined and jailed, just for discussing nutrition.

sure, every piece of regulation will have it's issues but i doubt very much that places like longecity will be affected. this push for regulation is really just about tightening up an abonormally slack standards, having clearly defined credientials and making sure the people who are accepting money for counseling are legitimatly trained professionals.

Unfortunately ajnast4r, you are being optimistic when it comes to bureaucratic tyrants. I appreciate your thoughtful response and your hope for how this will play out, but the reality is ALWAYS that freedom and self-determination are crushed. Give them an inch an they will take a mile, and another mile, and then a thousand miles....etc...

Popular blog Diabetic Warrior threatened with fines and jail time for dispensing diet and nutrition advice - must either re-write every article on his site or take it down. This despite a clear disclaimer:

Disclaimer

1) I am not a doctor, dietitian nor nutritionist. I have ZERO medical training and NO formal nutritional training. However, I am a diabetic who follows his own “diabetic diet” (backed by scientific research) and has normal Blood Glucose while taking -0- drugs and -0- insulin.
2) Personal advice will not be given on this site. This site is ONLY intended for educational purposes ONLY. Providing people with the information on a “real” diabetes diet is my goal. Creating other Diabetes Warriors…is my desire!
3) Please consult your physician regarding any health guidelines seen in this site. IF YOUR doctor does NOT support information provided on this site, I urge you to find a “low carb friendly” doctor as soon as possible.
Please contact me if you are unable to locate one. Click HERE
What I Have Done

1) I have learned from top PhDs, MDs and Fitness experts … through their writings and opinions regarding legitimate mainstream medical studies.
2) I have confirmed many of their findings through my own personal experiences. I am a former obese diabetic who was taking 4 drugs and 4 insulin shots per day!… now… I’ve lost 75 lbs and I am DRUG AND INSULIN FREE!!! All this with normal Blood Sugar….not normal for diabetics….NORMAL Blood Sugar for non-diabetics.

3) We are NOT alone! More and more are learning this information and gaining improved health and welness from it.

Look familiar? Is should. Everyone who contributes here read a similar disclaimer and signed it when joining Longecity/Imminst.

Diabetic Warrior is hardly any different than Mark's Daily Apple, or Bullet Proof Executive. How soon before these sites are threatened? Pretty soon everyone will have to either "pay the man" to get a license or be restricted to providing only government approved diet and nutrition advice.

Ray Kurzweil kicked his diabetes to the curb by cutting out most carbs and he promotes this fact. Is the state going to come after him pretty soon as well? Dr. William Davis has had great success treating his heart patients by advising them to drop wheat. Is he going to be threatened unless he gets a state-appoved-eat-your-mass-produced-industrial-grains nutritional license.

One mistake that a lot of people make is to assume benevolent/altruistic behavior on the part of most bureaucrats. This is not the case in many instances. Our worst fears are being realized with regards to free and open community discussion of diet and nutritional choices.

[cypan]

One mistake that a lot of people make is to assume benevolent/altruistic behavior on the part of most bureaucrats. This is not the case in many instances. Our worst fears are being realized with regards to free and open community discussion of diet and nutritional choices.

This stems from a deification of the "state". Notice how voluntary interactions between people like private nutritional guidelines and independent dietary recommendations are not trustworthy because these people may not know what they're talking about, but as soon as the "state" makes the guideline, *now* it's totally unquestionably trustworthy because of course those sapiens are endowed with the brightest minds that no other "non-state" sapiens can be trusted to possess. One theory that seems to make a lot of sense here is this stems from childhood. In mainstream culture, children are essentially told to believe whatever their grown-up authority figure tells them and to not talk back; go to school and do whatever the teacher tells you; the adult is always right and you the child are never to be trusted to know more than the adult. Then the child becomes the adult and this training carries on with the new authority figures being, of course, the police, the politicians, the "state". Then you introduce this bogus "democracy" in which people feel they can "influence the regulation" by casting a vote or yelling loudly and waving their hands until a presupposed authority (uncorruptible, unbribeable, greedless, selfless authority apparently) gives half a damn to listen, and we get this widespread love for the "state" because now it has become a part of each "citizen's" identity. Now the "state" is no longer a crown, a throne, a dictator. It's "us". It's "we the people".

Yet the delusion of the benevolent bureacrat persists--even more with democracy because people now think *they* are the leaders, and admitting that the self is wrong is much harder than blaming something or someone else. Consider political party members pointing fingers at each other. Consider how every problem in society has every democratic citizen's blame directed at something else. "You guys voted for this president!" "You guys supported this policy!" "This megacorp is corrupt!" And round and round it goes until the smallest minarchist experiment explodes into the largest global power the world has seen.

So as I said in my previous post in this thread, ignore the "regulations". Defy those presupposed authorities. If you're in danger for doing so, use stealth tactics. Use darknets, peer to peer social connections, untraceable cash--whatever it takes to get what you need out there with minimal risk of being attacked by these bureaucrats. They have power only because they are obeyed. Disobey wisely and you win. So carry on, my fellow, with giving all kinds of useful nutritional advice here on Longecity. Tell your friends proudly about your dietary changes and the effects you notice on your health. Besides, the more website takedowns out there, the more people will get pissed off and look to alternatives. Piss with financial markets enough, result in Bitcoin. Piss with industrial markets enough, result in RepRap. Piss with file sharing enough, result in BitTorrent. Piss with drug trade enough, result in Silk Road. You get where I'm going with this?

[yoyo]

Generalities about 'State' and 'regulation' are going to obscure more than help. And in the lack of clarity, rent-seeking stakeholders will be wanting to avoid some competition protect their livelihood as property and prevent progress.

[Luminosity]

During the Clinton Administration special interests tried to undermine organic farming standards but there was a big push back from consumers and it failed. I personally wrote a postcard every week on lurid neon green cardboard that was just short of psychotic, to let the Agriculture Secretary know that if he didn't do the right thing, there'd be a bunch of very intense people very mad at him. It worked. So, Mind, my advice to you is to channel people here to write to the decision makers. Snail mail may have more of an impact.