Food is, from a different point of view, a primary professional need of balanced nutrients that contribute to ensure one’s health. A specialist in Human Nutrition knows, studies, evaluates, and implements their science and professionality to everyone’s primary needs, keeping in mind the value of food and nutrition have on people’s wellbeing.
We talked about this with Dr. Marco Marchetti, Professor at the Medical International University of Rome UniCamillus, Pharmacist, Nutritional Biologist, director of the monthly scientific magazine “Il bugiardino”.
*What is the role of a Human Nutrition Specialist?*
From my point of view, the role of a Human Nutrition specialist is to understand in order to implement. Let me clarify: Eating is a primary need, and we all eat.
*Given that we all eat, can we all talk about nutrition?*
This is not the case. There needs to be a lot of study and knowledge in order to work in this field. Possessing knowledge regarding the human body’s physiology is of utmost importance on one side, and on the other side one must know the nutritional origin and quality of foods. Only in this case we can follow up on Hippocrates aphorism: “Let food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food”.
*There are many substantial differences in professional activites with dietists. Which are they?*
Operative differences are well-known,binding, and made clear by current laws. There are also cultural differences due to one’s educational background, which makes the differences.
Two academic years in surplus are fundamental in defining a professional in nutrition. In a world dominated by scarce information and fake news where “knowledge” passes through the Web, it is crucial to study and investigate to overcome a concept and really become a master of the profession.
*Which are the career prospects once the study course is terminated?*
The are many possibilities. Along with more “longed” professional paths, both in the public and the private fields, I would like to propose a less known choice: the Didactic one.
*Meaning?*
Nutritional science is one of the fields that has seen more innovations in the latest years, but it still is mostly unexplored. The notion of calorie consumption, of nutritional quality of foods, the definition of the correct ratio of macro- and micro-nutrients, these are all notions that need deeper studies. We therefore need brilliant professionals and intuitive researchers that are able to deepen these subjects and make them public by disseminating them with ability.