Who Can Benefit From Medical Nutrition Therapy?

If you have a chronic health condition, you might turn to drugs, surgery or other treatments to help tame symptoms.

However, it’s possible a simple change in diet could be enough to restore your health.

Medical nutrition therapy — or MNT — provides patients with a personalized diet and meal plan that offers an effective way to treat some medical conditions.

Typically, the goal is to help the patient either lose weight or maintain current weight levels. This can curb or eliminate symptoms and prevent additional health problems in the future.

“Almost anyone navigating a chronic health condition or a major life transition is a good candidate for medical nutrition therapy,” says Lindsay Cohen, a Missouri-based registered dietitian nutritionist and founder of Mama-Betes, which educates mothers about how to navigate life with diabetes.

Who is a good candidate for medical nutrition therapy?

Typically, a doctor will suggest that a patient try medical nutrition therapy as a means of treating a chronic health condition, such as:

• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Heart issues
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis
• Renal disease

MNT also helps promote healthy aging and better nutrition during pregnancy, Cohen says.

“If your health condition is influenced by what you put on your plate, you’re a candidate,” she says.

MNT might be used as a standalone therapy or in conjunction with other treatments. It can be especially effective in treating conditions such as type-2 diabetes, where losing weight can sometimes stabilize or even reverse the illness.

How medical nutrition therapy works

As part of medical nutrition therapy – sometimes referred to as “nutritional counseling” – you will work with a registered dietitian nutritionist who will help create a dietary plan for you.

During an initial consultation, the RDN will likely ask about your current eating habits and discuss the goals you hope to achieve through MNT.

From there, the nutritionist will work with you to craft the dietary plan that is most likely to be effective for your situation.

“MNT is not a one-size-fits-all meal plan,” Cohen says. “It’s a personalized, tailored therapy based on your unique health needs and circumstances.”

As part of the process, you may be asked to keep a food journal that tracks what you eat and when. This can help you discover bad habits that are keeping your from achieving health goals.

During the process, you will schedule follow-up visits with the RDN to track progress. The nutritionist may work with you to tweak and improve the meal plan.

Over time, MNT is likely to change how you think about what you eat.

For example, you might start to read food labels and to eliminate processed or fried foods from your diet. Or, you might stop drinking soda and turn to water instead.

The benefits of medical nutrition therapy

Cohen says some of the biggest benefits of MNT include:

• Improved A1C levels
• Better blood pressure
• Lower cholesterol
• A healthier weight level
• Improved quality of life

“MNT aims to move you away from restrictive dieting,” she says. “It provides a personalized roadmap that reduces mental burden by showing you exactly how to adjust your nutrition to meet your body’s specific needs.”

In short, MNT goes far beyond trendy diets and aims for a change that is more substantial and lasting.

“The biggest benefit is that it is not done using fads or popular treatments that lack research and it is primarily done by a registered dietitian nutritionist who is uniquely trained to do MNT,” says Angela Lemond, a Texas-based registered dietitian nutritionist and co-founder of Lemond Nutrition.

Finding the right medical nutrition therapy program

Finding the right registered dietitian nutritionist is a key to successful therapy, Lemond says.

“Like other health practitioners, not all RDNs work well with every patient,” she says. “It is important to find the best dietitian that relates to your needs, listens thoroughly and can help you navigate the nutrition plan in a practical way.”

Lemond recommends using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website to find an RDN who has at least five years of experience using MNT to treat conditions such as food allergies and digestive health issues.

Some RDNs earn special certifications that can help them to deliver MTN more effectively. For example, they may be a board certified specialist in any of the following areas:

• Digestive health
• Gerontological nutrition
• Obesity and weight management
• Oncology nutrition
• Pediatric nutrition
• Pediatric critical care nutrition
• Renal nutrition
• Sports dietetics

Looking for a dietitian who specializes in your condition is another way to boost the odds that your MNT will be a success.

Cohen says it is crucial to develop a comfort level with your RDN.

“Find a registered dietitian that you connect with,” she says. “You need someone that you feel comfortable being 100% honest with.”

Making medical nutrition therapy work for you

In many cases, health insurance covers the cost of MTN, especially if a doctor ordered the therapy.  However, your coverage might limit you to a specific number of sessions.

“While many plans cover MNT for diabetes and kidney disease, coverage for other conditions can be hit or miss depending on your insurance plan,” Cohen says.

Once you find the right RDN, it is important to explain why you are seeking MNT and to show the RDN any recent lab work and a few days of food logs if possible, Cohen says.

Some people might find this type of therapy to be challenging. “MNT isn’t a passive treatment,” Cohen says. “It generally requires some work and active engagement.”

You must be willing to look closely at your habits, do a bit of “homework” and sometimes unlearn years of toxic diet culture, she says.

“Be patient with the process,” Cohen says. “MNT is about sustainable, incremental shifts, not big changes overnight.”