Meet the Dietitian: Thomas Bosch

We’re excited for you to meet Thomas Bosch! Thomas is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and a Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist with his own private practice, Bosch Nutrition.

Thomas empowers his clients to achieve their wellness goals and learn healthy habits to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We had the exciting opportunity to chat with Thomas and learn about his intriguing career so far.

Tell us about your path to becoming a dietitian.

Thomas: At age 12, I was diagnosed with the autoimmune and skin disorder psoriasis. Thus, began my 35-year-long battle with this chronic condition. At the age of 22, after two unsuccessful hospitalizations, I was covered with 70% plaque psoriasis. My search to regain my health lead me to many alternative healing approaches, but nutrition always played a central role in my trials and errors of finding the “magic bullet” that would make this chronic condition disappear.

Unfortunately, by the age of 42, I was developing joint and muscle pains that were diagnosed as psoriatic arthritis. Faced with the prospect of having to take the immune system suppressing, chemotherapy drug methotrexate or other biologics, I took my search for nutritional interventions to a whole new level. After adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet from one day to the next, I started noticing hope-inspiring changes in my health. Over the course of several months, I lost almost 50 lbs, stopped snoring (I had borderline sleep apnea), became happier, less anxious, more energetic, and my blood pressure and LDL dropped as well. Slowly, all extremely painful, arthritic joints and inflamed muscles started loosening up and returned to their normal state. Eventually, all psoriatic plaques cleared up as well.

These profound changes in my personal health prompted me to go back to school and earn a degree in dietetics and nutrition to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). Sharing my experiences and educating clients about the healing potential of healthful nutrition has become my passion and professional mission.

Tell us about your nutrition career to date.

Thomas: I spent most of my professional career teaching German at various institutions of higher education. I also earned a PhD in German literature of the 20th century. As a second career dietitian, I combine my love of teaching with my passion for nutrition. During my supervised practice experiences, I was particularly drawn to outpatient counseling and community nutrition which inspired me to go into private practice.

Tell us all about your practice. What is your approach to nutritional care?

Thomas: Coming from a teaching career in higher education, I strongly believe in the effectiveness of both experiential and group learning. During my community nutrition experience, I became aware of the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP), a science- and evidence-based nutrition education and lifestyle counseling program, that has been shown to prevent, arrest, and even reverse common risk factors for lifestyle diseases such as obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

Getting clients involved in their own healthcare and empowering them with the nutritional tools to turn their health around are the driving forces that inform my approach to nutrition education and counseling.

What advice do you have for dietetic students just graduating or completing their internships?

Thomas: “Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there’s love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” —Ella Fitzgerald

How do you think technology is changing the way dietitians are practicing care?

Thomas: Telehealth and telenutrition are opening the doors to national and even international patient populations. Specializations are being made possible where a small local patient pool would have never sustained a narrow field of practice and specialization.

Why are you excited about using Healthie?

Thomas: Since regular feedback, communication, and individualized support are critical for patients to reach their nutrition, health, and lifestyle goals, Healthie is an amazing tool that allows them to message me, share their victories, get encouragement during setbacks, and receive helpful nutrition documents, as well as health information. As such, Healthie facilitates and promotes accountability, so my patients can be more successful in reaching their nutrition goals in order to regain their health.

To find out more about how Healthie can help your business, join us for a demo of the Healthie platform.