Yes, Julia is a Registered Dietitian, or a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist; these titles are inter-changeable. Dietitians are the leading nutrition experts in the healthcare system, they are academically trained in human nutrition and credentialed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), the federal governing body of nutrition in healthcare in the United States. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is within the US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA). This means Julia passed her Registered Dietitian examination after completing her 4-year nutrition bachelor’s degree and her supervised clinical practice hours (1500 hours).

Alternatively, “nutritionist” is not a formal title indicating any education, training, supervised practice, or credentialling. In fact, anyone, anywhere can simply start calling themselves a nutritionist. Nutritionists are not recognized by the healthcare system as nutrition experts, only Registered Dietitians or Registered Dietitian Nutritionists are.

The key takeaway is that professionals with dietitian in their title are highly educated and trained to administer medical nutritional therapy in traditional healthcare environments and within the community, they are qualified, trustworthy, and adhere to a code of ethics. None of this can be sure for anyone using only the title of “nutritionist.” Insurance companies are likely never going to provide coverage to see a nutritionist, but they may cover visits with a dietitian for these reasons.

Medical nutrition therapy is evidence-based nutrition recommendations as treatment to prevent, manage, or treat different medical conditions. It involves an assessment on nutrition status, which includes typical dietary intake and weight status/changes, behavioral counseling, and goal setting.

Medical nutrition therapy is considered a therapeutic intervention and has more depth and impact on health than general nutrition advice.

Balanced Sugars does not take payment from insurance companies at this time. This is not a personal decision of Julia’s, but a restriction within the insurance system in place. The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to pay for certain preventative services, including nutrition counseling for specific medical conditions, however, coverage for dietitian services vary significantly between plans.

Some insurance plans may pay for dietitian services under preventative services while others only cover is the nutrition counseling is deemed medically necessary and requires a physician referral stating so. Medicare only covers dietitian visits if you have diabetes, kidney disease, or have received a kidney transplant recently, but it does not cover visits for weight management.

Medicaid coverage for dietitian visits varies state to state. Other private insurance companies or employer-sponsored healthcare coverage will likely include coverage for dietitian visits, but there are often restrictions on the number of visits within a calendar year and there can also be restrictions on virtual coverage as some plans require in-person sessions.

All of these restrictions in place make it very challenging for Registered Dietitians to provide the kind of counseling needed for successful weight management. If Balanced Sugars accepted insurance coverage as primary form of payment, then the lifestyle education program for weight loss wouldn’t not be able to be as long and as extensive as it is. In order to offer the best possible care, self-pay is currently the best payment option.

Registered Dietitians around the country have been advocating for years to the federal government for policies to improve insurance coverage for nutrition counseling. There may be a time in the future when Balanced Sugars will be able to provide the same extensive nutritional counseling and accept insurance as primary payment methods.

Group education has been shown in research to be more effective in achieving health outcomes compared to individual counseling, especially when providing education on weight loss. Group learning builds community and promotes peer accountability, leading to more successful weight loss overtime.

Balanced Sugars aims to provide you with all the best education and skill building as efficiently as possible to set you up for long-term success, and it is Julia’s hope that you do not remain a long-time client of hers. There is no gatekeeping here!

Julia is a very warm and non-judgmental health educator. Her 10+ years of experience in nutritional counseling has included people from all walks of life, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. Julia believes in meeting people where they are at and providing realistic goal setting. She is empathetic, collaborative, honest, and open to any and all questions and challenges!