“Shamed” by nutritionist

I have to rant here, no one else in my life is plant based and wouldn’t get it.

I’ve been seeing a therapist for some disordered eating issues. She referred me to another person to sort out a diagnosis and talk about nutrition stuff - my first appointment was today. This new woman is a therapist and nutritionist, but to not confuse, I’ll call the person I was referred TO as the nutritionist.

As the nutritionist is going over all the basics, she asked for info on a typical day of food. So I told her “to start, I am vegetarian, mostly vegan.” (Which is true, I eat vegan completely at home but find it difficult when eating out - rare - so I occasionally have dairy or eggs when there aren’t a lot of options). She told me that’s fine, but said I’m going to have issues getting adequate protein (eyeroll). Then she told me she grew up on a dairy farm.

Then she asked why I was vegan. And I told her it was ethical. She kind of squinted at me and said “so you think milking a cow is...hurting it?” I could see the disbelief and that farmer arrogance in her face. I simply said “yes.” She couldn’t leave it though, telling me that cows need to be milked. So I said “yes, but they have to be impregnated over and over to consistently produce milk.” Of course I got nothing but...”I think the cows are happy to be milked.”..”They have plenty of room to graze.”...”I only ever saw happy cows.”...etc etc.

I did bring up that not all dairy cows come from the happy farms she’s familiar with and of course she tried to make the counter argument that I can just get dairy from local farmers, etc. She also said “while your ethics are important, I don’t think you can argue that your ethics are more important than your health.”

Sigh. At that point I was done with defending it (after all, I was there for help, not a lecture or debate) and just gave a small nod (I mean, cuz that’s somewhat true, except I can have BOTH in a perfectly sustainable way) and moved on.

I go back to my actual therapist next week and do intend on bringing this up with her. Possibly there’s a better fit, or together me and my therapist can make sure the nutritionist knows I’m not budging on this. Fortunately my therapist has not had any issues with my vegan/vegetarianism once she made sure I didn’t make that choice as a way to restrict my diet in relation to my disordered eating.

I expected to be made uncomfortable today, but certainly not for my ethical choices. Ugh. Thanks for reading. I feel a little better.

Edit: Not being a frequent flyer in therapy and dietician worlds, it appears I meant to say dietitian, not nutritionist. While I did not have a good impression of this woman, she is certified, degreed, licensed, etc in the ways she should be. Initials after her name include: MS, RD, CD, CEDRD.