Dietitians & Nutritionists
Client-centered, evidence-based nutrition care to help you eat better, feel stronger, and live healthier.
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Saturday–Sunday: 8 AM–6 PM
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Evidence-Based Nutrition Care at CARESPACE
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Ready to start? Book your first appointment by choosing a dietitian or nutritionist from our CARESPACE team.
Nutrition is the science of how food and its components affect the health, function, and performance of the human body. At CARESPACE, our Registered Dietitians are the recognized experts in translating this complex science into practical, personalized advice. We use an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach to help you manage health conditions, achieve your wellness goals, and build a positive, sustainable relationship with food.
Book an appointment online or call today to begin your journey to better health.
Why Choose CARESPACE for Nutrition?
Navigating the world of nutrition can be confusing and overwhelming. Choosing the right professional to guide you is a critical decision for your health. At CARESPACE, our approach is built on a foundation of integration, evidence, and personalization, providing a client experience that is comprehensive, effective, and empowering.
- Integrated, Coordinated Care: Your nutrition doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it impacts every aspect of your health. Our Registered Dietitians are a key part of a multidisciplinary team, collaborating directly with physiotherapists, chiropractors, and other specialists under one roof. This means your care is never siloed; your entire health team works together on a unified plan, leading to more comprehensive and lasting results.
- Evidence-Based Treatments: The practice of nutrition at CARESPACE is grounded in the best available scientific research. Our Registered Dietitians apply principles and protocols that have been validated by clinical studies for their effectiveness in managing chronic diseases, achieving healthy weight, and optimizing performance. We move beyond fads and misinformation to provide advice you can trust.
- Personalized to Your Goals: Every treatment plan begins with listening. We take the time to understand your unique health history, lifestyle, culture, and what you want to achieve. Whether your goal is to manage a new diagnosis, improve your energy levels, or enhance athletic performance, your nutrition plan is tailored specifically to you in a non-judgmental and supportive environment.
- Accessible and Convenient: We make it easy to access the expert care you need. With multiple clinic locations and simple online booking, you can schedule appointments that fit your life. We provide a detailed receipt after each visit for easy and convenient self-submission for payment from your insurance provider, allowing you to focus on your health.
See our Registered Dietitians and start your personalized care plan now.
Thousands of people in Kitchener have chosen CARESPACE for dietitians and nutritionists that deliver real results.
Reviews for Dietitians & Nutritionists at CARESPACE
How Nutrition Helps You Be Your Best
Nutrition is one of the most powerful tools you have to influence your health, energy, and longevity. It is the fuel that powers every cell, process, and system in your body. Working with a Registered Dietitian goes far beyond simple meal plans; it’s about creating a sustainable, evidence-based strategy to help you manage complex health conditions, achieve your ideal body composition, optimize physical and mental performance, and build a foundation for lifelong wellness.
Achieving and Maintaining a Healthy Weight
The journey to a healthy weight is deeply personal and often complicated by a sea of misinformation and restrictive fad diets that are rarely effective in the long term. A Registered Dietitian provides a safe, evidence-based alternative focused on sustainable change. They help you move beyond the cycle of dieting by creating a personalized plan that considers your unique metabolism, lifestyle, and food preferences. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have shown that individualized nutrition care provided by a dietitian is an effective strategy for achieving and maintaining weight loss. This success is rooted in a comprehensive approach that includes behavioural counselling and physical activity guidance to improve long-term adherence. Rather than simply focusing on calorie restriction, a dietitian empowers you with the skills for mindful eating, portion control, and making nutrient-dense choices that nourish your body while supporting your weight management goals. This approach helps prevent weight regain and fosters a healthier, more positive relationship with food for life.
Managing and Preventing Chronic Diseases
Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) provided by a Registered Dietitian is a cornerstone of managing and preventing many of the most common chronic diseases. For conditions like type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and hypertension, dietary interventions are not just complementary—they are a primary modality of treatment. Studies show that ongoing support from a dietitian can significantly improve glycemic control, delay the onset of diabetes complications, better manage lipid levels, and aid in weight management. Similarly, for cardiovascular health, dietitian-led MNT has been proven to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, lower the risk of stroke, and improve cardiovascular disease risk scores. A dietitian works with you and your healthcare team to translate complex medical needs into practical, everyday food choices, helping you manage your condition, reduce reliance on medication, and improve your overall quality of life.
Optimizing Digestive Health
Digestive issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), bloating, and irregular bowel habits can be debilitating and frustrating. Nutrition plays a pivotal role in managing these symptoms, but identifying trigger foods can be a complex process. A Registered Dietitian is an expert in digestive health and can guide you through evidence-based dietary strategies to find relief. One of the most effective, well-researched approaches for IBS is the low FODMAP diet, which involves the temporary restriction of certain fermentable carbohydrates. Numerous randomized controlled trials have shown that this diet provides significant symptomatic benefit in the majority of patients with IBS. A dietitian can guide you through the elimination and reintroduction phases of this diet safely and effectively, ensuring your nutritional needs are met while identifying your specific triggers. They can also provide guidance on other interventions like increasing soluble fibre or using specific probiotics, integrating dietary management into your routine IBS treatment protocol.
Enhancing Sports Performance and Recovery
For athletes and active individuals, nutrition is the foundation of performance, recovery, and injury prevention. What, when, and how much you eat can directly impact your strength, endurance, and focus. A Registered Dietitian specializing in sports nutrition can translate the science of performance eating into a practical plan tailored to your specific sport, training load, and body composition goals. This involves optimizing your intake of macronutrients—carbohydrates for fuel, protein for muscle repair and growth, and healthy fats for overall health. They provide evidence-based guidance on nutrient timing (what to eat before, during, and after training), hydration strategies to prevent performance declines, and how to properly carb-load for endurance events. Working with a dietitian can help you train harder, recover faster, reduce your risk of injury, and achieve your peak athletic potential.
Supporting Recovery and Healing
Proper nutrition is critical for healing, whether you are recovering from surgery, an injury, or an illness. The body’s demand for energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals increases significantly during the healing process to support immune function and tissue repair. A Registered Dietitian can develop a nutrition plan to ensure you are getting the specific nutrients needed to optimize your recovery. This includes ensuring adequate calorie and protein intake to rebuild tissue, as well as key micronutrients like Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and zinc, which play vital roles in wound healing and immune response. For post-surgical patients, a dietitian can also help manage common side effects like constipation or poor appetite, providing strategies like increasing fibre and fluid intake or incorporating nutrient-dense smoothies to ensure your body has the building blocks it needs to heal efficiently and effectively.
What Is Nutrition Counselling? (And Who Provides It?)
In a world saturated with wellness trends and conflicting dietary advice, understanding who is qualified to provide nutrition counselling is more important than ever. True nutrition counselling is a professional, evidence-based service provided by a regulated health professional. It involves a comprehensive assessment of your health and dietary habits, followed by the development of a personalized plan to help you meet your health goals.
Dietitian vs. Nutritionist in Ontario: A Critical Distinction
In Ontario, and across most of Canada, there is a significant and legally important difference between a “Registered Dietitian” and a “Nutritionist”.
- Registered Dietitian (RD): The title “Registered Dietitian” (and the abbreviation RD) is a protected legal title. This means that only individuals who have met rigorous educational and professional standards and are registered with a provincial regulatory body—the College of Dietitians of Ontario (CDO)—can legally use this title. They are accountable to the College for providing safe, competent, and ethical practice.
- Nutritionist: In Ontario, the title “Nutritionist” is not a protected title. This means that anyone, regardless of their education or training, can legally call themselves a nutritionist. While some nutritionists may have extensive training from private institutions (using titles like Registered Holistic Nutritionist or Certified Nutritional Practitioner), these titles are not regulated by law and do not signify that the person is a provincially regulated health professional.
Choosing a Registered Dietitian ensures you are working with a qualified professional who is held to the highest standards of education and accountability, just like a doctor, nurse, or physiotherapist.
A Regulated Health Profession
The profession of dietetics is regulated under Ontario’s Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 and the Dietetics Act, 1991. The College of Dietitians of Ontario (CDO) is the governing body with the legal mandate to protect the public. The CDO ensures public safety by setting and enforcing high standards for entry into the profession and for ongoing practice.
To become a Registered Dietitian in Ontario, an individual must complete a demanding series of steps:
- Accredited University Degree: Complete a four-year bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition from an accredited university program, with extensive coursework in sciences like biochemistry and physiology.
- Supervised Practical Training: Complete an accredited and highly competitive dietetic internship or an equivalent practical training program, which involves a minimum of 1250 hours of supervised, hands-on practice in clinical, community, and food service settings.
- National Registration Exam: Successfully pass the Canadian Dietetic Registration Examination (CDRE), a national exam that assesses the essential competencies required to practice safely and effectively.
- Ongoing Competence: Once registered, dietitians must participate in the CDO’s Quality Assurance Program, which requires them to engage in continuous professional development to ensure their knowledge and skills remain current.
This rigorous pathway ensures that every Registered Dietitian has the expertise to translate complex scientific evidence into practical, safe, and effective nutritional advice.
The Science of Dietetics: Your Dietitian’s Toolkit
A Registered Dietitian uses a systematic, evidence-based process called the Nutrition Care Process to provide high-quality, individualized care. This is a far cry from simply handing out a generic meal plan. Your dietitian’s toolkit includes:
- Comprehensive Nutritional Assessment: This involves a deep dive into your medical history, lifestyle, eating habits, food preferences, and personal goals. They may also analyze lab results and perform a nutritional-focused physical exam to assess for signs of deficiencies or malnutrition.
- Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT): This is the evidence-based application of nutrition science to treat and manage medical conditions. An RD is the only nutrition professional qualified to provide MNT. This may involve creating therapeutic diets for conditions like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, or digestive disorders.
- Nutritional Counselling and Behavioural Change: A dietitian is a skilled counsellor who uses techniques like motivational interviewing to help you explore your relationship with food, identify barriers to change, and develop practical strategies to build new, healthy habits that last.
- Personalized Goal Setting: Your dietitian works with you as a partner to set realistic, achievable, and meaningful goals. They provide the support, accountability, and adjustments needed to help you succeed.
- Translating Science into Practice: The core skill of a dietitian is taking complex scientific information—from national guidelines like Canada’s Food Guide to the latest clinical research—and translating it into practical, real-world advice that fits your life.
Not sure if nutrition counselling is right for you? Book a free discovery call today.
When to Consider Nutrition Counselling
Working with a Registered Dietitian can be beneficial at any stage of life and for a wide range of health goals. You don’t need to have a serious medical condition to benefit from expert nutritional guidance.
Consider booking a nutrition assessment if you are:
- Looking to achieve and maintain a healthy weight in a sustainable, non-restrictive way.
- Managing a chronic disease such as diabetes, prediabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.
- Experiencing digestive issues like bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, or have been diagnosed with a condition like IBS or celiac disease.
- An athlete or active individual wanting to optimize your diet for performance and recovery.
- Planning a pregnancy, are currently pregnant, or are postpartum and want to ensure you are meeting your nutritional needs.
- Recovering from surgery or an injury and want to support your body’s healing process.
- Concerned about your relationship with food or are struggling with disordered eating patterns.
- Transitioning to a new way of eating, such as a vegetarian or vegan diet, and want to ensure it is nutritionally complete.
- Feeling confused by conflicting nutrition information online and want clear, evidence-based answers.
- Simply wanting to improve your energy levels, mood, and overall long-term health.
Book an assessment today and get clear answers about your health.
The CARESPACE Difference: A Higher Standard of Nutrition Care
At CARESPACE, nutrition counselling is not just a standalone service; it’s a philosophy of integrated, client-centered health. We have built a model of care that moves beyond the traditional approach to deliver a higher standard of treatment, focused on durable results and empowering you to live your best life.
Evidence-Based Practice in Action
We don’t follow fads; we follow the science. Our clinical decisions are guided by the best and most current scientific evidence. CARESPACE Registered Dietitians integrate findings from high-quality research sources, systematic reviews, and national guidelines like Canada’s Food Guide into your treatment plan. This commitment means we translate complex scientific data into practical, real-world recommendations that are proven to be safe and effective for your specific condition. You can be confident that the advice you receive is not based on personal opinion or the latest trend, but is validated by rigorous scientific inquiry.
Multidisciplinary Coordinated Care
Complex health problems rarely have simple, one-dimensional solutions. A client recovering from an ACL surgery, for example, needs more than just physiotherapy. At CARESPACE, your dietitian works as part of a collaborative team. They can consult directly with your physiotherapist to develop a targeted nutrition plan that supports tissue healing, manages inflammation, and fuels your rehabilitation exercises. This integrated approach ensures all facets of your recovery are treated cohesively for faster, more lasting results, eliminating the fragmented care that can occur when you see multiple practitioners in different locations.
Personalized, Client-Focused Plans
We believe that effective healthcare starts with listening. Your care plan at CARESPACE is built around your unique history, lifestyle, culture, and most importantly, your personal goals. The plan for a busy executive trying to manage high blood pressure will be fundamentally different from the plan for a university athlete looking to build muscle mass. We move beyond generic meal plans to address the root causes of your health concerns, creating a personalized roadmap that fits your life and helps you achieve what matters most to you in a supportive and non-judgmental partnership.
Accessible and Convenient
Accessing high-quality care should be simple. CARESPACE offers easy online booking, allowing you to schedule appointments at your convenience. We provide a detailed receipt after every appointment, which contains all the necessary information for you to easily submit a claim to your insurance provider for reimbursement. We also offer the convenience of virtual appointments through our TeleCARE platform, making expert guidance from a Registered Dietitian accessible from anywhere in the province.
Insurance Coverage
Services provided by a Registered Dietitian are covered by most extended health insurance plans in Ontario. As regulated health professionals, dietitians are recognized by insurance companies as essential providers of healthcare. We can help you understand your coverage and will provide all necessary documentation for reimbursement, making it easy to invest in your health.
A Results-Driven Approach
Our ultimate goal is to help you achieve tangible, meaningful results that improve your health and quality of life. We focus on measurable outcomes—such as improved blood sugar control, lower blood pressure, better digestive health, or achieving a healthy weight—but we also focus on how you feel. We want you to have more energy, feel more confident, and enjoy a positive relationship with food. By combining evidence-based nutrition with a collaborative care model, we are dedicated to helping you not just feel better, but to truly be your best.
Nutrition Conditions Treated
- Weight Management
- Diabetes and Prediabetes
- Heart Health (High Blood Pressure & High Cholesterol)
- Digestive Health (IBS, Celiac, IBD)
- Sports Nutrition
- Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
- Food Allergies and Intolerances
- Pregnancy and Postnatal Nutrition
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Cancer Nutrition
- Kidney Disease
- Vegetarian and Vegan Diets
- General Healthy Eating and Disease Prevention
Nutrition Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between a Registered Dietitian and a Nutritionist?
What can I expect during my first visit with a dietitian?
Will a dietitian just give me a meal plan to follow?
Do I need a doctor's referral to see a dietitian?
Is nutrition counselling covered by insurance?
How many sessions will I need?
I already eat healthy. Can a dietitian still help me?
Meet Our Registered Dietitians
CARESPACE Locations Offering Nutrition
Live-answer Reception
Please call us at (519) 208-2273 to talk with our live-answer Reception Team who will be happy to book, reschedule appointments or answer any of your questions, or book online now.
Open 7-days a week!
Monday–Friday: 8 AM–8 PM
Saturday–Sunday: 8 AM–6 PM
What to Expect at Your First Nutrition Visit
Your first nutrition visit at CARESPACE is a comprehensive and reassuring experience designed to understand your unique health needs and set a clear path toward your goals. We ensure you feel heard, informed, and comfortable throughout the entire process in a non-judgmental and supportive environment.
- A Thorough Conversation (Subjective History): The visit begins with you. Your Registered Dietitian will dedicate protected time to an in-depth conversation about your primary health concerns, your medical history, medications, supplements, lifestyle, daily routine, and your past experiences with food and dieting. Most importantly, they will listen to understand your personal goals, your challenges, and what a healthy relationship with food looks like to you.
- A Comprehensive Assessment (Dietary and Lifestyle Analysis): Your dietitian will conduct a detailed analysis of your current eating patterns. This is not about judgment; it’s about gathering data. They may ask you to recall what you typically eat or have you complete a food journal. They will assess your intake of macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat), micronutrients (vitamins, minerals), fibre, and fluids to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
- Your Personalized Plan (Collaborative Goal Setting): After the assessment, your dietitian will discuss their findings with you in clear, easy-to-understand language. They will provide education on how your current patterns may be impacting your health and goals. This is a collaborative process where you will work together to set 1-3 small, realistic, and achievable initial goals. You will leave with a clear, practical starting plan, not an overwhelming overhaul of your entire life.
- Education and Empowerment: A key part of the first visit is education. Your dietitian will provide you with evidence-based resources and practical tools to help you implement your plan. This could include sample meal ideas, grocery shopping tips, or strategies for mindful eating. The goal is to empower you with the knowledge and confidence to start making changes.
- Next Steps and Ongoing Support: You will leave your first visit with a clear understanding of your path forward. Your dietitian will discuss the recommended frequency for follow-up appointments to monitor your progress, provide ongoing support and accountability, and adjust the plan as you move toward your long-term goals.
Insurance & Payment for Nutrition Services
At CARESPACE, we strive to make the financial aspect of your care as simple and transparent as possible. Nutrition counselling provided by a Registered Dietitian is a covered service under most extended health insurance plans in Ontario. We provide a detailed, official receipt after every appointment that contains all the necessary information, including your dietitian’s name and registration number, for you to easily submit a claim to your insurance provider for reimbursement. No physician referral is required to begin care.
Nutrition vs. Other Approaches
Navigating the world of health advice can be confusing. Understanding how a Registered Dietitian compares to other providers can help you make an informed decision about your health. At CARESPACE, we believe in using the right expert for the right job, and often the best results come from an integrated team approach.
Registered Dietitian vs. Naturopathic Doctor
While both Registered Dietitians (RDs) and Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) provide nutritional advice, their training, philosophy, and scope of practice are distinct. An RD’s practice is focused exclusively on the science of food and nutrition and its application to human health, a field known as dietetics. Their advice is strictly guided by scientific evidence and clinical practice guidelines. A Naturopathic Doctor’s training is much broader, encompassing a range of natural therapies including botanical medicine, homeopathy, and physical medicine, with nutrition being one component of their practice. While NDs can provide nutritional guidance, the depth of their specialized training in nutrition is not as extensive as that of an RD, who has completed years of university education and a rigorous internship focused solely on dietetics.
Registered Dietitian vs. Health Coach or Online Influencer
This is one of the most critical distinctions for public safety. A Registered Dietitian is a regulated health professional, accountable to a provincial college for providing safe, ethical, and evidence-based care. The terms “health coach” or “nutritionist” (in Ontario) are unregulated, meaning anyone can use them without any formal training, qualifications, or accountability. Advice from unregulated individuals is often based on personal experience or anecdotes rather than scientific evidence and can sometimes be inaccurate or even dangerous. When you work with an RD, you are guaranteed a level of expertise and professionalism protected by law.
The CARESPACE Difference: Why an Integrated Approach is Best
You do not have to choose. The core philosophy at CARESPACE is that the best outcomes are achieved when different expert approaches work together. Your team of health professionals collaborates to determine the optimal combination of treatments for your specific needs. Your plan might include seeing a Registered Dietitian to optimize your diet for anti-inflammatory benefits, a physiotherapist to restore strength and mobility after an injury, and a chiropractor to address related joint restrictions. This integrated, client-focused model ensures you receive the most comprehensive and effective care possible.
The Evidence for Nutrition Counselling
At CARESPACE, our commitment to evidence-based care means we rely on high-quality scientific research to guide our practice. The body of evidence for the effectiveness of nutrition counselling provided by a Registered Dietitian is robust and continually growing, with numerous systematic reviews and clinical trials demonstrating its positive impact on a wide range of health outcomes.
Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for Chronic Disease
Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is the evidence-based process for treating medical conditions through individualized nutrition plans, and it is a core competency of Registered Dietitians. Systematic reviews have consistently shown that MNT provided by a dietitian is highly effective. For individuals with prediabetes, MNT leads to significant improvements in glycemic control (HbA1c and fasting blood glucose), as well as improvements in weight, BMI, cholesterol, and blood pressure. For those with hypertension, dietitian-led MNT has been shown to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, lower the risk of stroke, and improve the use of anti-hypertensive medications. This strong evidence base is why MNT is a key component of clinical practice guidelines for the management of most chronic diseases.
Weight Management Outcomes
In the field of weight management, professional guidance is key to achieving sustainable results. Research has synthesized the evidence on individualized nutrition care from a dietitian and found that it is an effective intervention. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials showed that, compared to minimal or no intervention, individuals receiving care from a dietitian achieved significantly greater reductions in both weight and Body Mass Index (BMI). The success of this approach lies in combining nutritional therapy with behavioural interventions and ongoing support, which improves adherence and helps prevent weight regain over the long term.
Digestive Health (IBS)
For functional gastrointestinal disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), dietary interventions are a first-line treatment, and the evidence strongly supports their efficacy. In particular, the low FODMAP diet has been extensively studied. Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials have consistently shown that a low FODMAP diet provides symptomatic relief for a majority of patients with IBS, improving symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, and disordered bowel habits. The evidence is so strong that dietary management, guided by a trained professional like a dietitian, is now recommended as a primary strategy in IBS treatment protocols.
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