ABSTRACT
Comprehensive care of patients with eating disorders involves a multidisciplinary treatment team with nutritional rehabilitation and stabilization as a significant cornerstone of treatment (1,2). Nutritional rehabilitation and counseling requires a skilled registered dietitian versed in eating disorder treatment approaches. The guiding principle in nutritional treatment of eating disorders is to help the patient become reacquainted with normal eating. Eating disorders rob sufferers of the practice of normal eating and frequently mask the body’s natural hunger and satiety cues. This theft makes relearning how to honor the body’s hunger and satiety signals, how to discern physiological urges to eat from emotional triggers, and how to view food and eating as a joyful, nourishing part of life rather than a frightening, threatening enemy, or a difficult and complex journey. Nutritional counseling involves guiding the patient through this process and helping him or her reestablish a healthy relationship with food.
