Featured Member: Rita Kashi Batheja, MS, RDN, CDN, FAND

August 8, 2017
Rita Kashi Batheja DIFM Member

Rita Kashi Batheja (left) and Sister Shivani, Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization (right)

We are honored to highlight Rita Kashi Batheja as our Featured DIFM Member for August.  Passion for people drives Rita to provide personalized Integrative & Functional Medical Nutrition Therapy in her private practice in Baldwin Harbor, Long Island, NY. This nationally and internationally recognized RDN was instrumental in the formation of DIFM in 1998. Rita enjoyed serving on its Executive Committee (EC) since its inception by playing a key role as Nominating Committee Member, Member Services Chair, Reimbursement Chair, Public Policy Chair and Diversity Chair. Currently she serves as a Diversity Committee Member. She also initiated DIFM's Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional Performance (SOP/SOPP) for Registered Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine.

How would you best describe what you do in a nutshell, including how you incorporate integrative and functional nutrition into your work?

Everyday is a different day for me. Every patient has been evaluated utilizing Integrative and Functional Medical Nutritional Therapy and the IFMNT Radial. I also lead patients to the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) website to look at the AAPI's free ebooks on functional medicine and nutritional genomics.

Everybody has stress, so one priority is making patients feel at ease in whatever their belief is! As we all know almost everybody believes in integrative therapies, and I extend the conversation to let patients know about functional medicine, its principles and evidence-based practice.

What do you love most about integrative and functional nutrition?

I come from a country where Mahatma Gandhi was born. He believed in nonviolence, peace, yoga and Ayurveda. All these originated from India, and these are some of the modalities of integrative therapies. Spiritualism is rooted in me, and evidence-based practice of Western countries makes the best of East and West. I love to go to the root of the problem rather than treating symptoms. I love meeting like-minded clinicians around the world. I always liked the supplement part of functional medicine and incorporate high quality supplements in my practice.

Where have you completed most of your training in integrative and functional nutrition?

As a member of DIFM DPG, I learn about integrative and functional nutrition from the state of the art listserv and newsletter. I also associate with registered dietitian nutritionists on DIFM’s executive committee. By volunteering for DIFM, I've made friends for life and what I've learned from them is unmatched. I shall continue to volunteer and learn from the younger generation, moving into social media with the speed of light.

I volunteered my time going the extra mile and throughout my journey met best practitioners, like Ruth DeBusk, PhD, RD, Dr. Jeffrey Bland, and Diana Noland, MPH, RDN, CCN, LD at various events, such as Food as Medicine, Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice (AFMCP), and the Integrative Healthcare Symposium (IHS).  I took a course on Ayurveda at Columbia University with Dr. Vasant Lad, Founder of Ayurvedic Institute from Albuquerque, NM, and then attended Dr. Deepak Chopra’s session in New York City.

I became a member of The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) and listen to once a month grand rounds by experts from the Cleveland Clinic. Besides attending one or two webinars to increase my knowledge, I started to attend free summits by experts on a daily basis.

Rita Kashi Batheja DIFM Member

Rita Kashi Batheja (left) at AAPI with renowned yoga guru Baba Ramdev (center)

What advice would you give anyone interested in learning more about integrative and functional nutrition?

My advice for people is they cannot afford not to be a member of DIFM no matter what setting they work in! You need to be prepared to answer consumers when they ask you questions since we are considered nutrition experts who provide quality nutrition advice and protect the public. The IFMNT Radial says it all, and one needs to study it thoroughly and watch the video on DIFM’s home page. DIFM RDN’s have written five invaluable modules as an online training program, which are available from the Academy’s store.

Two of DIFM’s past chairs and one past EC member have come up with their own programs which are a good place to start: Susan Allen-Evenson's Next Level Functional Nutrition and Sheila Dean's and Kathie Swift's IFNA program. Jaime Schehr, RDN, ND teaches a one day course in New York City, Long Island and Westchester, NY. You can also check on DIFM’s website in the resources section. The Asian Indians in Nutrition and Dietetics Member Interest Group (AIND MIG) of the Academy is offering almost all webinars on integrative and functional medicine topics at no cost. All Academy members are welcome to attend.

I always surround myself with chiropractors, naturopathic physicians, aromatherapists, kineseologists and massage therapists for their expertise. Keep an open mind, and it will be a very fulfilling experience.

Thank you for sharing a wealth of information with us, Rita!