Nutrition Certifications

We have created this eight-week email course to help you build a successful, fulfilling career in holistic nutrition that you’re passionate about. Check it out:

Build a Successful Career as a Holistic Nutritionist in this 8-Week Email Course

YES! Absolutely. Many of our students complete the program while holding down full-time jobs. Also, if you only want to work in nutrition consulting part-time after you are certified, then that’s your choice—it is certainly possible to build a successful business part-time.

Yes, we do!  Download our Certification Program Payment FAQs guide of frequently asked questions about pricing of AFPA certification programs.  Our handy payment tool will help you see how much a certification program costs and options for monthly payment plans.

We have open enrollment, so you may enroll whenever you are ready.

In our free guide, Holistic Nutritionist Program Guide, you’ll learn how to turn your passion for health and nutrition into a profession with a holistic nutritionist certification

We have created this free guide, The Nutrition Consultant’s Guide to Finding and Winning Clients, for you to learn how to build a solid client base so that you can do the work you love. This guide covers everything from selecting the right client niche to creating a website that attracts clients.

The Nutrition and Wellness Consultant Certification program is based on MyPlate, a government recommendation that was a revision of the Food Pyramid. This plan of eating, for the most part, is how Americans eat daily, with a reliance on dairy products as well as other animal products [meat, chicken, fish, turkey, etc.]. The references to fruit servings, vegetables and grains for the most part do not differentiate between refined or whole grains, fried or baked vegetables, and fruit of fruit juices. Many individuals choose to eat this way, it is promoted by school lunch programs, hospitals, and the government in general based on the lobby interests of the food industry. For program details, click here.  

The Holistic Nutrition Certification Program is meal planning and dietary guidelines for disease prevention and optimal health through whole foods, plant-based nutrition. What is a whole food, plant-based diet? Put simply, it is a diet that prioritizes eating whole or unprocessed plant foods, minimizes meats, fish and dairy products, eggs and eliminates highly processed foods. This is not necessarily a vegetarian or vegan diet. When you design your diet of whole foods at or greater than 90 percent plant-based, that means you keep animal products, meat, eggs, dairy, fish at no more than 10 percent of your total daily caloric intake. For program details, click here.

The Health & Wellness Coach (HWC) certification programs focuses on the processes of coaching, how to be an effective coach and how to elicit behavior change from your clients. This program focuses on how health is not specifically dependent on diet and exercise, but also dependent on supportive relationships, meaningful work, work/life balance, spirituality and more. HWC also looks at many areas of a client’s life that may be contributing to stress and poor health, instead of diet and exercise alone. Nutrition is not the focus on the HWC program as it is in the NWC program. For program details, click here.

The Nutrition and Wellness Consultant (NWC) certification program focuses on how to elicit dietary changes from your client. Nutritional wellness consultants are professionals who use their knowledge of nutrition and human physiology to improve the physical well-being of their clients by improving their diets. The course focuses on individual characteristics of clients to devise food-based strategies that can enhance their life.  You will learn how to analyze eating habits and behaviors, look at a person’s physical health and makes suggestions based on your findings. For details, click here.  

The NWC and HWC certification programs have the importance of nutrition and exercise in common. The NWC is much more rigorous in the Nutrition learning component. In addition, coaching and consulting are somewhat different.

As a Nutrition and Wellness Consultant, you are asking guiding questioning, giving advice, and co-creating to help solve problems. Consulting is unlike coaching because with pure coaching, the answers come from the client.

As a Health and Wellness Coach, you are supporting someone to uncover their internal obstacles and to learn how to manage them. Coaches partner with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The coach is the subject matter expert at coaching, not necessarily the subject matter expert of the client’s coaching topic, e.g., nutrition, exercise.

Nutrition Consultants, Wellness Coaches, and/or Nutrition Coaches provide guidance and counseling to people seeking nutritional advice for health, fitness, healthy lifestyles and weight management. You have opportunities for employment in a large array of capacities, including, schools, community health centers, corporate arenas and can write, teach, and provide counsel with a large amount of flexibility.

Holistic Nutritionists are trained in natural complementary nutrition. You will identify nutritional needs for disease prevention and treatment and will design tailor-made dietary programs specific to the individual’s needs. You have an array of opportunities for employment, creating your own clientele, community centers, corporate arenas, and community health centers, and can teach, write and counsel people.

What is the difference between a Dietitian and a Nutritionist? In general, Dietitians must have completed a four-year college degree with specific coursework in nutrition and must pass the Registration Examination for Dietitian to become a Registered Dietitian. The word “Nutritionist” in and of itself is less regulated and four-year college degrees are not required to use the term.

Download our free guide The Ultimate Nutrition Professional Salary Guide to see how much you can earn.

According to the 2016–17 Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for nutritionists is $56,950 per year. Actual salaries may vary greatly based on specialization within the field, location, years of experience, and a variety of other factors. Your earning potential throughout your career will depend partially on variables like where you live, what services you provide, if you cater to a particular niche of clientele, and your area of expertise. In addition to these factors, your earning potential will also depend on your ability to work hard and to market yourself in your field, as well as your ability to network in your community and online. Consider building your base of clients with those who know and trust you enough to refer you to friends and family. Additionally, the nation’s health concerns and growing awareness of the importance of healthy eating will continue to boost earning potential for professionals in the nutrition field.

The Holistic Nutritionist certification program focuses on a whole-foods, plant-based diet. Put simply, it is a diet that prioritizes eating whole or unprocessed plant foods, minimizes meats, fish and dairy products, eggs and eliminates highly processed foods. This is not necessarily a vegetarian or vegan diet. When you design your diet of whole foods at or greater than 90 percent plant-based, that means you keep animal products [meat, eggs, dairy, fish] at no more than 10 percent of your total daily caloric intake.

Yes! Regardless of you or your clients preferred diet, with the HNC program, you will acquire the knowledge and expertise to help other make better nutritional choices for optimal health.

To determine how you can work in your state with a Nutrition Certification and find out about the laws in your state, please visit: http://www.holisticcouncil.com/us.html

Prescribing, diagnosing, and performing surgeries are generally a part of the “practice of medicine,” and it would be a violation of state medical practice laws for anyone to prescribe, diagnose, or perform surgeries without holding the appropriate state license. A federal drug license is also needed to prescribe drugs legally. Nutrition professionals do not prescribe or advocate the use of drugs.

Holistic nutritionists usually work as consultants, either in an integrated clinic or as solo practitioners, and/or have their own independent business or online consultation business. They may also work in school or corporate settings. Some holistic nutritionists choose to specialize in areas such as holistic sports nutrition, home nutrition or family nutrition therapy. Other careers in holistic nutrition include research, teaching and working for a supplement manufacturer or whole foods company. Writing nutrition guides or working as a chef are other career possibilities. According to the BLS, the mean annual salary as of May 2014 for this profession is $57,440. The job opportunities for this career from 2012-2022 are expected to grow 21%

Nutrition Consultants, Wellness Coaches, and/or Nutrition Coaches provide guidance and counseling to people seeking nutritional advice for health, fitness, healthy lifestyles and weight management. You have opportunities for employment in a large array of capacities including, schools, community health centers, corporate arenas and can write, teach, and provide counsel with a large amount of flexibility. According to Payscale, an online Human Resources platform, Nutrition and Wellness Consultants have an earning capacity that reaches $60,000 a year within 4 years of experience. A four-year college degree is not required; completion of an educational training program in nutrition is needed.

We have created a program guide specially directed at answering questions about our most comprehensive nutrition program yet.  Check out the

Master Level Nutrition Consultant Program Guide to see if this program is right for you.

Yes, if you choose, you may order and complete the certifications individually. Once you have successfully completed all four programs, you will be issued the Master Level credential.

You will have up to 2 years to complete the Master Nutrition Consultant program. This program includes reading, listening, watching, notetaking, self-assessment quizzes/activities, assignments and the final exam for each of the following programs:

• Nutrition and Wellness Consultant
• Holistic Nutritionist Consultant
• Sports Nutrition Consultant
• Weight Management Specialist