Nutrition and Dietetics

Society is constantly undergoing changes with regards to food consumption and habits. This is not a trivial issue as 40% of children are obese and the main reason why professional nutritionists and dieticians are becoming increasingly important.

In addition, nutritionists and dieticians aim to ensure the well-being of groups of people who, due to specific health issues, high-level sport requirements, or their age (children and the elderly), need to pay special attention to the food they eat.

The importance of a good diet

A proper diet brings many benefits, such as disappearing digestive problems, more efficient food absorption by the body, optimised sports performance, and recovering one’s general quality of life.

The team of nutritionists and dieticians at Hospital Ochoa in Marbella possesses expert knowledge of preventive medicine and designs special dietary plans that produce real results. This department keeps in constant consultation with the Endocrinology team.

Diets are tailor-made for the specific requirements of each patient, paying close attention to the needs of vegans and vegetarians, athletes, children, and patients suffering from obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hiatal hernias, irritable bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, and food intolerances.

Another fundamental goal of nutritionists and dieticians is to educate people on healthy eating and correct common mistakes that people make, as well as dispel the many dietary myths that exist out there.

Otra de las metas fundamentales de los profesionales de esta especialidad tiene como objetivo aclarar los diversos mitos alimentarios, dudas y errores que se suelen cometer de manera frecuente a la hora de comer.

Reasons for special diets

The most frequent reasons for going on a special diet are:

  • Diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems or high blood pressure.
  • Obesity or overweight.
  • Gastric or digestive ailments.
  • Improvement of sports performance.
  • Learning to eat intelligently.
  • Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Food intolerance and other eating disorders.
  • Vegans and vegetarians.
  • The elderly and young children.

Symptoms

It is always recommended to consult a nutritionist and/or dietician instead of designing one’s own special diet. Without the proper training and expertise, most diets will lack essential nutrients and have a surplus of unnecessary ones.

Depending on a person’s particular profile and nutritional needs, the wrong diet could adversely affect their health with vitamin deficiency and malnutrition, symptoms which could manifest themselves with hair loss and fragile nails. However, more grave consequences of a poor diet could be developing anemia, as well as kidney and liver damage.

Another drawback of going on a diet without the help of an expert nutritionist is the high failure rate. Most people who attempt diets by themselves either do not follow them properly or they quit. Not achieving one’s goals will often lead to a feeling of failure, but worst still are the potentially harmful effects of bad eating habits on our bodies.

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