He could do better, though, not just with nutrition but with other lifestyle factors. For instance, he could explain to older women that doing weight-bearing exercise will reduce their risk of osteoporosis, and he could tell them how to get calcium if they have problems with dairy products.
But my point was that very few people even bother asking him for guidance. It's silly that educated people just assume that by reading a little in their spare time they can acquire a better practical knowledge of nutrition than a professional with four or more years of intense training in human medicine. It's mind-boggling that they're right. For instance, if my friend could name a couple of high-calcium non-dairy foods -- which I'm not confident he could -- it's only because he read some diet books looking for ways to lose weight. He could probably name more symptoms of Chagas disease than dietary sources of vitamin D.
But my point was that very few people even bother asking him for guidance. It's silly that educated people just assume that by reading a little in their spare time they can acquire a better practical knowledge of nutrition than a professional with four or more years of intense training in human medicine. It's mind-boggling that they're right. For instance, if my friend could name a couple of high-calcium non-dairy foods -- which I'm not confident he could -- it's only because he read some diet books looking for ways to lose weight. He could probably name more symptoms of Chagas disease than dietary sources of vitamin D.