Qualifications Required to Sell Nutrition Advice?

[X-Mark-X]

Hey guys,

So basically I am eventually planning on opening my own gym, but I want to offer nutrition counseling in addition to personal training. My only question is, what qualifications, if any, do you need to sell your nutritional advice? Could anybody sell nutritional advice, as long as they can convince other people to buy it? Or is there some sort of legality/insurance thing that you need qualifications for?

I am aware that there are "nutrition specialist" type courses offered by many places that offer personal training certification. However, these come with a "scope of ability" disclaimer that is usually quite vague, and I'm not sure if they would suffice. I doubt that you would need to become a dietitian to give basic weight loss/weight gain advice, as I heard that you can be considered a nutritionist without actually being a dietitian.

Anyway I am from Canada in case it makes a difference, but if anybody knows the answer to this question, or has any ideas where I might be able to find an answer, please let me know.

Thank you.

[dimasso69]

i do not know the legal rights it's probably different in every state..but you wont make much without a degree..without credentials business will not be great.

[ilove2run]

Originally Posted by dimasso69

i do not know the legal rights it's probably different in every state..but you wont make much without a degree..without credentials business will not be great.

x2 on this, you should shoot for a RD, or something to that extent, but your going to have to go to about 4-6 years of schooling for that.

[X-Mark-X]

Originally Posted by ilove2run

x2 on this, you should shoot for a RD, or something to that extent, but your going to have to go to about 4-6 years of schooling for that.

Well, I am currently finishing my last year of an exercise science degree. I figure if I also get like a nutrition specialist certification from Can-Fit-Pro or something then I can sell myself based on my credentials. I am asking this question because, if I do need to become a dietitian or something, it will actually only take me a couple of years of extra school since I will be registering as a post-degree with a bunch of transfer credits. I don't want to spend an extra 2 years in school to become a dietitian though if I am going to be able to give nutrition advice without being a dietitian.

In terms of not making any money off of it, I heard about a guy in town here that has no qualifications at all, but he is a bodybuilder, and he does nutrition programs for people. People listen to him because he's jacked and they're not lol, so I'm not too worried about people not paying for it. The only thing is I don't think he has an actual business or anything and I'm wondering if people are actually even allowed to be doing that without any qualifications.

Does anyone know for sure? It would be great if someone who is involved in the nutrition industry could give me a definitive answer. I really have no clue who to ask and the next two years of my life are kinda based on the answer I get lol.