Proper Supplementation?

I'll admit that I'm not really a big listener when it comes to class these days. For some reason, they bore me and don't keep my interest for more than 30 minutes, if so much. Those that I can listen to for an hour or more are certainly the interesting ones. That said, this semester we're doing a course in human nutrition. In my most honest opinion, all doctors desperately need to know about human nutrition...desperately. So, I'm glad that it's a part of the degree here.

Who better to teach a course about nutrition than a dietitian? Well, I can actually think of more qualified persons for that role. Regardless, this is one of the persons we have teaching the course...the others, know little of nutrition. As previously stated, I'm not a big listener in class and the dietitian is impeccably boring to listen to but, from the little I have attempted to hear, dietitians (or maybe just this one?) are only knowledgeable in diets and food nutrition. You must be wondering, what more do they need to know? Well, I'm certainly being taught about supplementation where needed but the knowledge in this aspect of nutrition is so mightily limited that a biochemist could teach this same information.

What a bore. And a disappointment.

This is why doctors who do happen to know something about supplementation and natural products don't actually know how to properly use/suggest them. Because they're not properly taught. Not even basic general things about supplements like the fact that not all brands are good for everyone. The cheaper 'brands' are incredibly low quality compared to the more costly ones and so they do very little to supplement the body's need. And then there's the fact that one brand that may do well for one person may not do so well for another. 

But such is life. This is how doctors and medical students are taught. If they want to learn about all aspects of nutrition in its proper form, they'll probably have to go to a natural medicine school...or make good friends with alternative or complimentary medicine practitioners, though that sort of relationship isn't very common. Why? Because, for some reason, consultants in natural medicine and conventional medicine manage to clash instead of mesh. And I must add, it would actually be rather beneficial for the medical and wider community if everyone got along instead of bashed each other's treatment/management options. That's all I have to say.