Pharmacists Play Vital Role in Dietary Management
Researchers assessed the importance of a nutritious diet and the role pharmacists play in providing dietary management services.
With expertise on nutritional medications and supplements, as well as greater accessibility compared with other providers, pharmacists are positioned as the most suitable health care professionals to manage patients’ dietary journeys. In the future, with proper training and education, researchers believe pharmacists can act as an authority on dietary management, providing resources to other providers to further their knowledge.
“Pharmacists have been traditionally regarded as experts in medications, not in food and nutrition. However, in current years, pharmacists have found out their significance now [is] no longer simplest in controlling unfavorable food-drug interactions,” wrote authors of a study published in the International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews (IJRPR).1
When exploring health outcomes most commonly associated with poor nutrition and dietary management, obesity stands out because of its prominence in places like the US, where more than 100 million adults are considered obese, according to CDC data.2 However, beyond obesity, failing to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet can result in further health complications.
Beyond obesity, failing to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet can result in further health complications. | image credit: Theeranan / stock.adobe.com
“Diet is one of the top 3 factors contributing to the global disease burden; in the [US], poor health from poor nutrition is a leading cause of both adult morbidity and mortality,” wrote authors of a study published in Pharmacy.3 Indeed, of the top 15 risk factors that led to early death, high sodium intake, low fruit intake, and low whole grain intake all contributed to patient mortality in the year 2021.4
READ MORE: Clinical Pharmacists Play Pivotal Role in Managing Inflammatory Bowel Disease
In the researchers’ study,1 they explored the association between a nutritious diet and pharmacists’ ability in managing patients’ dietary intake. First breaking down the importance of a nutritious diet for avoiding increased morbidity and mortality, the researchers then assessed pharmacists’ understanding of how nutrition and dieting impacts overall health outcomes.
While it may seem simple and obvious to the general public, keeping a close eye on everything an individual consumes is important in maintaining a healthy body and ecosystem of beneficial nutrients.
“Nutrition is essential in our life. Food and liquid have an impact on our bodies and health as they include specific nourishment that is essential for our physical structures. Every great food and drink contain essential nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and water,” they continued.1 These essential nutrients all play a vital role in helping a patients’ body maintain stability. However, while it’s no surprise that dietary intake directly impacts overall health outcomes, knowing how to manage it in a comprehensive yet stressless manner for patients is something researchers believe pharmacists are most fit to do.
“Pharmacists are experts in medicine and are responsible for providing medicines and services that are safe, effective, and of the highest quality to achieve the best possible health outcomes. Therefore, their primary focus is to provide information and advice that is tailored to the needs of their patients,” they wrote.
While a basic understanding of medication interactions and the overall importance of nutrients is common for most health care providers, pharmacists stand out as the authoritative figures leading the way on medication management, including those commonly used for dieting. According to the authors, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to have the utmost knowledge of drug usage, drug-drug interactions, drug-meal interactions, drug-nutrient interactions, meal supplements, dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, cost-powerful treatments, and so much more in the pharmaceutical sector.
However, despite a general pharmacist’s education showing that their profession is best-suited to manage patients’ diets, continuing education is still vital to ensuring providers are meeting standards of quality and expertise.
“At the community level, pharmacists are trusted professionals who can influence health outcomes by strengthening their expertise and potentially expand their scope of practice in nutrition and lifestyle coaching and interventions. It is time pharmacists take a bite of the apple and leverage nutrition-focused training opportunities and education to improve their skills and benefit quality patient nutrition care,” wrote authors of the Pharmacy study.3
Regardless of the extent pharmacists worldwide are providing dietary management services, providers are continuing to advocate for the importance of nutritional health. And as more and more patients begin their dietary journey, researchers and heath care experts agree that pharmacists should be the first and most useful resource to improve their communities’ health outcomes.
“Since pharmacists have the needful understanding in this field, it strengthens their function in vitamins management and contribution to public fitness. The pharmacist might also additionally evolve into a dependable useful resource in supplying applicable facts to different health care experts that may be incorporated into their normal clinical practice,” concluded authors of the study.1
READ MORE: Digestive Health Resource Center
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