The food you eat plays a crucial role in shaping your health and the quality of your life. With increasing cases of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart conditions, there is a need to focus on nutrition, which is an important aspect of health. An understanding of proper nutrition not only promotes good health but also helps to reduce the costs of expensive medical treatments. In this blog, we will learn about nutritional counselling and why your health insurance should cover the cost of medical nutrition therapy. Let’s begin with the meaning of nutritional counselling!
What is Nutritional Counselling?
Nutritional counselling is a one-to-one counselling service by a trained dietician to provide personalised dietary guidance to help an individual develop healthy eating habits to achieve his/her health goals. The two main goals of nutritional counselling are providing dietary advice to maintain good health and using medical nutrition therapy to treat chronic conditions.
What is Dietary Advice?
Dietary advice aims to provide guidelines on making healthy food choices to maintain good health and achieve specific health goals. It includes guidance on portion size, food choices, meal timings and cooking methods tailored to match individual needs. It also helps prevent the risk of health conditions in the future. Dietary advice can be offered by a dietician, personal trainer, or sports coach to help you achieve a specific health goal. For instance, the diet requirement of an athlete will be different from the diet requirement of someone trying to lose weight.
What is Medical Nutrition Therapy?
Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is a form of diet and nutritional counselling that is used to manage chronic health conditions through diet. The goal is to prevent symptoms of the health condition by developing a diet that meets the patient’s nutritional needs. The process involves the following steps:
- An assessment of a patient’s nutritional deficiencies and imbalances.
- Based on the assessment, the root cause of the health condition is diagnosed.
- A personalised diet and meal plan is created to manage and treat the health condition.
- Nutrition evaluation and monitoring are done through regular follow-ups.
Who is a Nutritional Therapist?
The personalised diet and meal plans are prepared by a trained professional called a nutritional therapist. A nutritional therapist is an expert in nutritional science and prepares a comprehensive diet plan according to the medical history and health needs of an individual after an assessment of his nutrition status by observing his lifestyle and eating habits. He provides solutions to fill any nutrition gaps. Nutrition therapy is a slow healing process that eliminates your existing health issues and prevents the risk of diseases in future.
Common Diseases Managed by Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT)
Medical Nutrition Therapy proves to be effective in the management of the following common diseases:
- Diabetes: Medical nutrition therapy for diabetes management helps in reducing diabetes markers by regulating blood glucose levels through a low carbohydrate diet and portion control.
- Cardiovascular Diseases: Cardiovascular diseases include a range of heart diseases that affect heart function. MNT manages these diseases by controlling the risk factors like cholesterol, triglycerides and high blood pressure. A plant-based diet that is low in fat and sodium is recommended to manage cardiovascular health and it also keeps your weight in check.
- Digestive Conditions: Digestive conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome are caused due to poor absorption of nutrients. The best way to treat such conditions is to eliminate certain foods that trigger the symptoms. The eliminated food can be introduced again with reduced portions once the digestive tract starts to function normally.
- Kidney Disease: Kidney disease causes an increase in the level of calcium, potassium and protein in the blood. Limiting the intake of these nutrients can reduce the severity of the disease. Also controlling high blood pressure helps in reducing the risk of kidney disease.
Why is Nutritional Advice Important?
Nutritional consulting can be extremely beneficial for anyone who is struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle because of busy schedules or a lack of knowledge. With the help of nutritional assessment and dietary advice, an individual can make informed choices.
Nutritional Assessment
In a nutritional consultation, a comprehensive analysis of an individual’s nutritional intake, deficiencies, and requirements is conducted. This analysis helps to identify any potential risks of diseases, as well as existing health conditions and aids in the development of a personalised nutritional plan.
Personalised Dietary Advice
Nutritional counselling provides dietary advice customised to your current health status and habits so that the dietary changes are sustainable and help you achieve your health goals.
Nutritional Education
Nutritional consultation not only provides dietary guidance but also helps you learn about the impact of nutrition on your overall health. It educates you about the concept and properties of macronutrients, micronutrients and other dietary components.
Disease Prevention and Treatment
Nutritional counselling helps prevent a range of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, obesity, hypertension, eating disorders, allergies, etc., by promoting a healthy lifestyle and eating habits. It not only prevents but also manages already existing health conditions by correcting nutritional intake and making dietary changes.
Improved Health
When you optimise your nutritional intake under the guidance of a professional nutritional counsellor, it has a long-lasting impact on your health. It boosts your energy levels and improves your strength and immunity.
Get Nutritional Counselling Coverage with Care Health Insurance
Access to comprehensive health care is crucial for anyone dealing with a chronic health condition, and this includes access to nutritional counselling services. Professional dieticians can assist patients through medical nutrition therapy, helping them modify their diets to meet their specific medical requirements. With Care health insurance, you get coverage for medically required nutritional counselling under OPD coverage offered by Care OPD. It covers dietician consultation as per the policy terms and conditions. So, don’t compromise your health, and avail yourself of nutritional counselling services offered under Care OPD.
Disclaimers: All plan features, benefits, coverage, and claims underwriting are subject to policy terms and conditions. Kindly refer to the brochure, sales prospectus, and policy documents carefully.