In New Zealand, a dietitian is someone who has completed a 3-year BSc degree and a 1-year postgraduate diploma at a university. They are required to register with The Dietitians Board, then every year meet competencies and obtain an Annual Practicing Certificate in order to practice. In New Zealand, a registered dietitian automatically becomes a nutritionist.
Alternatively, a nutritionist can be someone with no training or someone who has completed some training. They may or may not belong to an official organisation and therefore don’t have the same accountability as someone who is registered.

Many people find their sleeping improves significantly due to reduced stress from having the right foods in their bodies.

For health conditions, generally 3 sessions will be required. For disordered/emotional eating and eating disorders, recovery requires a much longer time commitment. Changing your relationship with food and your body requires patience, an open mind and can’t be rushed to be effective.

For health conditions, the first session is an assessment of what is going on followed by suggestions or a plan to follow. For disordered eating and eating disorders, most of the first session will be an assessment with 1 or 2 actions steps for you to do.

The dietary changes required to treat problematic health conditions can encompass a wide range of foods that need to be excluded. In Diane’s experience, people often waste a lot of time and energy making various changes without success. This is because dietary factors in treating health conditions are more complex than many people are able to determine by themselves, so a proper plan with a qualified dietitian is essential.

For most conditions, clients have answers after 3-4 weeks of dietary modification. The next step is to work out what the actual issues are and where food intolerance thresholds lie.

Yes, Diane is available week days after hours to suit you. No weekends.

Diane’s plan is to always make things as easy as she can for her clients. That means giving alternatives based on current eating plans.

No, Diane doesn’t do any allergy testing. If she thinks it is appropriate, she will request your GP completes a lab form for a Skin Prick Test or RAST (blood) test as recognised by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy.