Talking with your patients about dietary cholesterol, diet and nutrition: best practices for family physicians

Family physicians, as gatekeepers for the healthcare system, are at the forefront of detecting, diagnosing, and managing diseases. When it comes to coronary heart disease (CHD), patients expect them to be knowledgeable about ways to reduce CHD risk, such as through diet. Unfortunately, most family physicians have not received formal training about nutritional counselling for patients. There is also little time or incentive to educate patients about diet.

This has led to the preference for referring patients for dietary counselling. However, when properly informed, family physicians can be effective conduits for dietary counselling. A Danish study showed that patients at risk for CHD who were given nutritional counselling by family physicians experienced significant weight loss, reduction of waist circumference and body mass index, a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and a significant reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

By providing nutritional counselling, physicians can serve as a source for current information and help to correct long-held misperceptions that patients may have regarding diet.