Who tells us what to eat? Nutrition studies reassert themselves in the age of algorithms

You grab your phone and open TikTok. An influencer points a yogurt at the camera and says it looks healthy, but it's actually an industry trick. A content creator claims intermittent fasting has changed their life. Another thirty-second video makes gluten the big enemy to defeat. You've just watched them, you close the app, sit down at your computer, and open an artificial intelligence tool to prepare a personalized diet for you. We've never received so many messages about what to eat, what to avoid, and how to do it. But, amidst this avalanche of information, distinguishing scientific evidence from digital noise has become an increasingly complex task.This situation is not anecdotal. An analysis by Dublin City University and MyFitnessPal of over 67,000 TikTok videos concluded that only 2.1% of nutrition content adhered to public health and nutrition guidelines. It is in this context that undergraduate and postgraduate nutrition training is being advocated for, mainly within healthcare professions. If the foundation for practice is a degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, master's degrees allow for deeper exploration into increasingly complex areas, such as personalized nutrition, sports nutrition, public health, or food and planetary health. In Catalonia, public universities offer various possibilities in these fields.The challenge of myths and screens

In the consultations of dietitians-nutritionists, the impact of social networks and AI has been detected for some time. “I perceive a society with more nutritional information, but also more confusion, where patients tend to react in a polarized way: either they adopt extreme diets, or they are blocked from any change”, summarizes Mar Gassó, dietitian-nutritionist at the BCN Diabetes & Endocrine Institute (IBADE). As she explains, in recent years these habits have even “rradicalized”, and there are people who restrict food groups or are less afraid of miracle diets. 

Likewise, she increasingly sees patients who come to consultations with self-diagnoses or recommendations obtained through artificial intelligence tools, “which are not very personalized and, in many cases, incorrect.” In this context, she adds, a growing part of professionals' work is no longer just about prescribing a therapeutic diet or giving nutritional recommendations, but also about dispelling misunderstandings: “A fundamental part of our work is nutritional education, but we also invest a lot of consultation time in debunking myths, fostering critical thinking, and helping people discern between rigorous information and pseudoscience,” she points out.But dietary disorientation does not stop at the consultation room: it also affects society as a whole. In this regard, Gemma Salvador, a dietitian-nutritionist at the Catalan Public Health Agency, recalls that “almost 80% of people's health is determined by their environments and lifestyles.” Therefore, she assures that eating cannot be understood solely as an individual decision, but also as an issue influenced by the social, economic, and educational context. Salvador also insists that healthy habits must be worked on “from early childhood” and not only in school, but also with families and in other socialization spaces. In this framework, she defends that having professionals specifically trained in human nutrition and dietetics in primary healthcare teams “has represented a great advance for the healthcare environment”.An increasingly cross-cutting profile

Beyond private practice, dietitians-nutritionists have been gaining presence in areas such as primary care, hospitals, schools, research, and public health organizations. In fact, as Gemma Salvador recalls, Catalonia is a pioneer in incorporating these professionals into primary care, alongside other profiles such as physiotherapists or emotional well-being referents. But it is not just a matter of career prospects. In parallel, nutrition has been becoming a more complex field, crossed by new debates on microbiota, metabolism, sustainability, diet personalization, and behavioral change. It is in this dual context that master's degrees have consolidated as a specialization path to refine knowledge and better orient the profile of health professionals.

This is defended by Anna Arola, coordinator of the interuniversity master's degree in Nutrition and Metabolism (URV and UB), who recalls that today “we know that nutrition goes far beyond meeting energy needs or avoiding deficits” and that it has “a direct impact on molecular and metabolic processes that influence health”. In recent years, she explains, issues such as the role of the gut microbiota, the relationship between diet and mental health, or the idea that not only what we eat matters, “but also when we eat”, have gained importance. All of this, she points out, requires training health professionals capable of understanding this new complexity and turning it into useful tools to improve communication and citizen care.A similar perspective, but with a more systemic emphasis, is presented by Anna Bach-Faig, director of the UOC's master's degree in Healthy and Sustainable Food. As she explains, in the last decade this field “has moved from a primarily clinical view to a planetary health approach, which connects people's health with that of ecosystems and food systems”. Therefore, she argues, it is no longer enough to master the biochemistry of a nutrient: one must also understand educational strategies, behavioral change, food culture, public policies, and communication. In this regard, she maintains that postgraduate studies in nutrition should serve to train professionals capable of approaching food “not only” from what we eat, “but how and with what impact on human health, the community, and the environment”.The value of specialization

In this context of misinformation, the usefulness of master's degrees in nutrition is not explained solely by the increase in professional opportunities or the scientific sophistication of the field, but also by the need to refine judgment. “Specialization is one of the things that really makes a professional difference,” states Mar Gassó. In fact, she recalls that, “as happens in medicine,” nutritionists often also refer patients according to their specialty, because “it is impossible to master all fields of nutrition.” The IBADE dietitian-nutritionist argues that master's and postgraduate degrees offer a clear differential value because they allow for in-depth study in specific areas and for cases to be approached with greater safety and effectiveness. All of this, in an era when it is also “essential to develop critical thinking to discern evidence from marketing,” she points out.Gemma Salvador, from the Public Health Agency of Catalonia, elaborates on this latter aspect: behind many messages about nutrition there are also commercial interests. “Nutrition is a very large business window,” she warns. That is why she insists on the importance of those who advise citizens on food and health being “trained and accredited.” At this point, the idea is clear: the professional foundation is the degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics; master's degrees come later, as a path to specialization. As Gassó summarizes, “being a nutritionist today involves much more than giving dietary guidelines.”