How can I get nutrition advice about a medical condition?

Counseling:

• Talk with your physician or other health professional about referring you to a Registered Dietitian (R.D.). An R.D. can provide personalized dietary advice taking into consideration your health status (such as other medical conditions), lifestyle, and food likes and dislikes.
• The American Dietetic Association has a Find a Registered Dietitian service that allows you to locate an R.D. in your geographical area with particular specialties (such as weight control, diabetes, digestive disorders, etc.). Be advised that this list may not include all R.D.s in your area.
• Check with your local health department, hospitals, clinics, and Cooperative Extension for classes such as those on weight management, diabetes, etc.

Web information:

• For background information, you may find it helpful to look on the Web. Information obtained online, however, does not take the place of personalized advice from a qualified health professional, and some Web sites have inaccurate or misleading information. In looking for reliable information on the Web, you may want check out our Nutrition and Health Issues section.

I just found out I have diabetes and need information to help me eat right.

• NIH’s National Diabetes Education Program is a great resource. In particular, you may want to take a look at their Recipe and Meal Planner Guide. It has meal planning tips and recipes among other practical information. As mentioned in the Guide, it provides general information and does not take the place of consultation with your health care providers, including a Registered Dietitian.

Is it true that men can get osteoporosis? I thought it just affected women.

• Even though it is most often associated with women, men can also develop osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become fragile and can break easily. In fact, about 30% of those who develop osteoporosis in the U.S. are men. See Men Can Get Osteoporosis Too and the NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center for more information, including steps to help prevent it.

What is the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance?

• Read about Food Allergy: An Overview (PDF|542 KB) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Besides discussing the difference, it explains that food allergies can cause very serious reactions and why it is so important for people with true food allergies to have these allergies identified.

What are the most common foods that people are allergic to?

• An article in the FDA Consumer Magazine, Food Allergies: When Food Becomes the Enemy , lists the most common foods to cause allergies in adults as shrimp, lobster, crab, and other shellfish; peanuts (one of the chief foods responsible for severe anaphylaxis); walnuts and other tree nuts; fish; and eggs. For children, it lists eggs, milk, peanuts, soy and wheat. Children typically outgrow their allergies to milk, egg, soy and wheat, while not usually outgrowing allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shrimp. Adults usually do not lose their allergies.