Many people don’t realise that what we at has a big impact on our mental health. A nutritionist understands this and what foods are beneficial for specific needs and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you suffer from any level of depression simply changing your nutritional intake is known to help improve your mental health but, when choosing a nutritionist to help you it is likely you have many questions about what to expect and have some apprehension if using a therapy new to you. We at Seek a Therapy want to help answer your questions and concerns surrounding nutritional therapy in order to help you select the right professional for you and on this page we have included some of the most common questions a person may have before looking at their nutrition.
What is a nutritionist?
It is a nutritional therapist’s job to establish what improvements or changes an individual can make to their diet to improve their overall health and well-being.
The Role Nutrition Plays In Our Mental Health
The above video is a TED talk about just how important getting good nutrients in our body and recent resaerch shows that good diet usually means less mental health problems. As well as its impact on short and long-term mental health, evidence indicates that food plays an important contributing role in the development and prevention of specific mental health problems such as depression.
It shows that 66% of people who eat fruit and veg every day or fruit juices do not report any mental health problems. It is over 50% of those who do have mental health problems tend to eat poorly and this shows just how important a good diet can be in your battle to overcome depression. Those who suffer from depression do tend to report that they eat fast foods and heavily processed carbohydrates showing it can truly negatively affect the mind if you consume the wrong things.
How Our Diet Affects Depression?
What To Expect From A Nutritionist?
Some nutritionists develop their own methods of treatment but fundamentally, they will all roughly be the same. Here is a basic overview of what to expect from a professional nutritionist : –
First I complete a thorough nutrition assessment, which includes information about your weight history, current and past medical history, family medical history, food allergies or intolerances, likes and dislikes, eating, sleeping and exercise habits, past weight loss attempts, emotional and social ties to food and much more.
Next we’ll in person, sometimes at my office, sometimes in your home. We’ll discuss your goals and I’ll share my thoughts and feedback about your nutrition assessment. This gives us both the starting point and destination, essentially the “where you are now” and “where you want to end up.”
Then we’ll develop a game plan together for how to proceed. Some people prefer a formal, structured eating plan. Others do much better with a short list of changes that are specific and measurable, such as adding 2 cups of veggies at dinner and cutting the grains in half. I’ll explain the reasoning behind the plan or changes, including exactly how they will affect your body and what you can expect.
After our initial visit, I ask most of my clients to communicate with me every day, either via email or phone. In my experience, daily support is critical. One full week between appointments is way too long to wait if you’re struggling, have questions, or get off track. Each day I check in with you, my goal is to answer your questions and offer support, help you feel confident about what you’re doing and why, verify that you’re feeling well physically, and track your progress and results. Eventually, I hope you’ll get to the point where you don’t need me anymore, because you’ve not only met your goals, but the changes you’ve made have become your new ‘normal’ way of eating. – Shape.com
How Much Does A Typical Nutritionist Session Cost?
If you are based in the UK you can sometimes ask your GP for help with a Nutritionist on the NHS, and although there are more nutritionists employed by the NHS they are usually reserved for other things than mental health. If this is the case then you can go private ( and we have several nutritionists in our directory in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia) where costs range from £30/$50 per session and sometimes can go up to £100/$150 and occasionally more depending upon the therapists experience, speciality and location.
How Do I Know Which Nutritionist To Choose?
Your GP will often have several accredited nutritionists that they can point you in the direction of, also there some boards that help you find qualified nutritionist but even if they do and you feel that the therapist isn’t right for you then it is completely fine to find a new specialist.
One of the most important part of any therapy is the relationship between yourself and the therapist in order to be able to trust and open up about all your thoughts and feelings in order to allow your trained specialist to help you.
When you find the right nutritionist that offers you good communication, a partnership, trust, goals and a feeling of genuine understanding of what you are trying to accomplish then together, over time, you will be able to change your diet and hopefully, improve your mental health.
What If Nutrition Doesn’t Work For Me?
First of all, don’t worry!
If you think nutrition is the right therapy but you have the wrong therapist then you have every right to seek a second opinion and you will not offend your therapist, they just want you to heal from your difficulty as best you can and you deserve to feel better. If, on the other hand, you don’t feel the change in diet is working at all then do not be disheartened, there are many, many different methods to heal from depression and looking at nutrition is only one. Use our therapy directory to find a different therapy, you may find hypnotherapy works better or possibly some counselling treatment. The key is not to think this is your only option, keep trying varied therapy.
Changing your Diet For Improved Mental Health
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Please note : This information should not replace professional medical advice, it is purely for informational purposes . At all times when you are in crisis please first seek help from your GP or another medical professional. Thankyou