Make healthy aging and longevity your niche as a nutritionist

Highlights:

• Healthy aging and longevity approaches are gaining in popularity
• Nutrition is one of the most impactful determinants of successful aging
• Nutritionists can help solve several key problems in aging and longevity such as decline and suffering reduction, lifespan extension, and medical cost of aging

Introduction

Defining a segment of the population that you want to focus on as a nutritionist is crucial. It can help you find ideal clients and have a bigger impact on their lives. Healthy aging and longevity are topics that have been steadily gaining in popularity and there is a shortage of healthcare providers specializing in this field. Nutrition is a key tool for improving health and increasing lifespan, which puts registered dietitian nutritionists in the perfect position to take advantage of this trend. You have a variety of tools to influence chronic disease risk factors as well as lifespan. We want to help you get ready for success in this niche market.

What changes do you want to see?

A great starting point for every nutritionist is to define their main aspiration. What difference do you want to make in the world? The answer to that should drive how you select your niche. As one of our readers, we can assume you are passionate about healthy aging and longevity.

A large part of practitioners in the anti-aging and healthy longevity movement began as patients or clients themselves. That is where their desire to use their skills toward reducing suffering in aging comes from (1), and this can be a valuable asset. The more intimately you understand what your clients are struggling with, the better you can connect with them and serve them as a nutritionist. Clients pick up on your sense of purpose and your belief makes it easier for them to see a new future for themselves. They are more likely to get results and spread the word.

What is the growth potential?

The trajectory of your niche market can have a strong influence on your ability to sustain and grow your practice over time. Healthy aging and longevity are on an upward trajectory. Popularity of search terms such as lifespan have been steadily rising over the past decade. People are starting to see the process of aging in a different light as more research suggests it could be considered a treatable disease rather than an inevitable process (2). Recent studies estimate that a slowdown in aging that increases life expectancy of US citizens by one year is worth $38 trillion (3). The economic incentives are here to make longevity worth the effort going forward.

What problem does your niche solve?

Every niche market is trying to solve a specific set of problems. There are at least three that you as a nutritionist can offer solutions to in the arena of healthy aging pointed below. Much of the general public thinks that the process of aging and the suffering that comes with it are natural and they cannot do much about that. They never considered aging a medical condition that may one day be treatable. They accept a victim's position when it comes to getting old (1).

1. Reducing decline and suffering

It is quite understandable to be afraid of the inescapable decline and suffering that aging is typically associated with. This is where you can offer a solution as a nutritionist. You can give your clients hope by showing them a path forward that is proactive and leads to better outcomes. The positive effects of medical nutrition therapy on obesity and type 2 diabetes (4), heart disease (5), and many other age-related afflictions, are well documented.

2. Lifespan extension

When your clients see the possibility of a healthier way to age, they are likely to be interested in adding extra years to their life. Research suggests that you can help with that as a nutritionist too. Studies have demonstrated a direct link between telomere length and life expectancy, stress, DNA damage, and risk of aging-related diseases. Diet and physical activity are known to be major influencers of health and longevity as well as telomere dynamics (6).

3. Medical costs of aging

The financial side of aging also poses a scary problem. Dealing with chronic disease is a sure way to stack medical bills that can disrupt the family budget. Working with a nutritionist is a way to prevent that. As an example, research shows that medical nutrition therapy for dyslipidemia reduces medication use and saves up to $1456 per patient per year in the United States (5). Medical nutrition therapy was also associated with a 9,5% reduction in use of hospital services and a 23,5% reduction in use of physician services for Medicare payers with diabetes (7).

What tools do you have as a nutritionist?

Research shows that food type, quantity, and timing have a big impact on disease risk and mortality. For example, a high intake of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and coffee is associated with a reduced risk for all-cause mortality. Increased intake of processed meat, sweetened beverages, and white bread is associated with telomere shortening in humans. Studies also suggest that both caloric restriction and amino acid restriction can be powerful interventions (7). Here are the most important tools to use as a registered dietitian nutritionist to utilize this knowledge.

• Dietary patterns – You can introduce eating patterns such as the Mediterranean diet or plant-based diets that have been shown to improve health markers and contribute to longevity.
• Personalization – You are uniquely positioned to evaluate your client’s current nutrition, preferences, anthropometric measures, and medical record data to tailor the selected dietary pattern to them.
• Behavior changes and habit formation – Helping clients to successfully implement new dietary patterns and other healthy habits into their lifestyle is an often-overlooked tool that every nutritionist should have in their arsenal.
• Accountability and adherence – Keeping clients accountable and helping them stick to an eating pattern over the long-term is essential for success and improved outcomes.

Stay up to date with science

Just as with any other niche, you have to stay on top of the latest developments in the field. Every month there is new research being published that could give you a better understanding of how to treat aging. Being an expert in your niche is essential for building trust. Your clients are looking to you to filter out the available information and be a reliable source of healthy aging news. You can introduce them to new supplements, diagnostic methods, and interventions and help them understand the results of the research.

Identify your ideal clientele

When you define your niche and understand the problems your service is trying to solve, it becomes much easier to find your ideal client. You can start by defining your model client in this niche to get insights for how to market and talk to your future clients. Try to identify characteristics such as age, income and socioeconomic status, location, hobbies, family life, and likely medical diagnosis.

The interest in aging and longevity runs across much of the demographic spectrum. But studies suggest that the forties or fifties are currently considered the ideal age range that offers a good balance between physiological decline and psychological maturity (1). This could serve as a guide for some of the other characteristics.

It’s also important to identify places where you can best connect with your future patients. Choosing the right social media platform is a necessity nowadays, but real-world connections are just as important. Consider contacting physicians in your area who directly work with the same kind of client you want to attract. These would typically be patients at risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion

Healthy aging is a niche market that is rapidly gaining in popularity and nutritionists are well placed to capitalize on this trend. They can help solve several key problems in this field such as the medical cost of aging, lifespan extension, and fear of decline and suffering. Nutritionists have a variety of tools to elicit positive change. Interventions like medical nutrition therapy have been proven effective in treating chronic diseases. The right dietary patterns and choice of food type, quantity, and timing have the potential to help people live better and longer.

References:

1. Courtney Everts Mykytyn. Anti-aging medicine: a patient/practitioner movement to redefine aging. Soc Sci Med. 2006 Feb;62(3):643-53. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.021. Epub 2005 Jul 22.
2. Faragher RGA (2015) Should we treat aging as a disease? The consequences and dangers of miscategorisation. Front. Genet. 6:171. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00171
3. Scott, A.J., Ellison, M. & Sinclair, D.A. The economic value of targeting aging. Nat Aging 1, 616–623 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00080-0
4. Kathaleen Briggs Early, Kathleen Stanley. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: The Role of Medical Nutrition Therapy and Registered Dietitian Nutritionists in the Prevention and Treatment of Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2018 Feb;118(2):343-353. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2017.11.021.
5. Geeta Sikand, Renee E Cole, Deepa Handu, Desiree deWaal, Joanne Christaldi, Elvira Q Johnson et al. Clinical and cost benefits of medical nutrition therapy by registered dietitian nutritionists for management of dyslipidemia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Lipidol. Sep-Oct 2018;12(5):1113-1122. doi: 10.1016/j.jacl.2018.06.016. Epub 2018 Jul 3.
6. Nikolina Škrobot Vidacek, Lucia Nanic, Sanda Ravlic, Mary Sopta, Marko Geric, Goran Gajski et al. Telomeres, Nutrition, and Longevity: Can We Really Navigate Our Aging? J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2017 Dec 12;73(1):39-47. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glx082.
7. Cem Ekmekcioglu. Nutrition and longevity - From mechanisms to uncertainties. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2020;60(18):3063-3082. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2019.1676698. Epub 2019 Oct 21.