Professional Nutritionists

with Graduate Degrees and Certification or Licensing.

We are health care professionals with accredited graduate degrees in nutrition. This includes members who are:

Certified Nutrition Specialists (CNS), Licensed Nutritionists (LN) , and Licensed Dietitian-Nutritionists (LDN). We are

also sometimes called Nutritional Biochemists, Professional Nutritionists, or Nutrition Professionals.

Professional Nutritionists provide nutritional evaluation and therapy. Approach will vary by practitioner and

specialty. But our goal is to identify the underlying causes of health problems, including: dietary, nutritional,

biochemical, metabolic, digestive, inflammatory, and toxic causes. Evaluations may include: medical and nutritional

history, clinical exam, anthropomorphic measurements, diet analysis, food allergy evaluation, nutritional

status, and laboratory testing. Treatments may include: diet therapies, nutrient supplementation (neutraceuticals

and custom compounds), herbs, detoxification, weight management, and life-style counseling and education.

This is defined by the AMA medical CPT code book as:

“Medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is the assessment of nutritional status followed by nutritional therapy. The

nutrition assessment includes review and analysis of 1) medical, nutrition and medication histories, 2) physical

examination, 3) anthropometric measurements, and 4) laboratory test values. Nutrition therapy may include 1) diet

modification, 2) counseling and education, 3) disease self-management skills training, and 4) administration of

specialized therapies such as medical foods, intravenous or tube feedings.” [CPT Codes: 97802, 97803, 97804.]

Who may practice MNT is determined by individual state licensing and title laws. Nationally it is defined by

Medicare Part B laws and regulations, and includes “Nutrition Professionals” and “Registered Dietitians”. [See

Licensing for more details.]