Events/News


  • Practical Herbal Medicine for Dietitians: Moving Beyond a Pill for Every Ill

    Friday, January 16, 2026, 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM ET

    Webinar:  Practical Herbal Medicine for Dietitians: Moving Beyond a Pill for Every Ill presented by Abrar Al-Shaer Speaker, PhD, RD, LDN

    REGISTER TODAY for the January 16, 2026 130pm ET webinar

    This 90 minute webinar provides dietitians with practical skills in herbal medicine theory, safe prescribing, and applying herbs within a holistic nutrition framework.

    Herbal medicine has long been used to support health and healing, yet it is often misunderstood or applied through a conventional “pill for every ill” lens. This webinar introduces dietitians to herbal medicine theory and practice from a truly holistic perspective. Participants will learn how to move beyond symptom-based prescribing by understanding herbal constitutions and tissue states, and how to match herbs to people rather than diseases. The session will cover key concepts such as common herbal preparations, foundational herbal actions, and safe dosing considerations, while highlighting how herbs can be thoughtfully integrated into nutrition care. Practical frameworks and clinical examples will help attendees gain confidence in discerning safe, effective, and individualized uses of botanicals within dietetic practice.

    Learning Objectives


    1. Differentiate between a conventional symptom-based use of herbs and a holistic approach grounded in traditional herbal medicine practices that are both culturally informed and evidence-based.

    2. Experience and interpret the sensory qualities of herbs to recognize how herbal medicine constitution theory informs practice.

    3. Apply a practical framework for selecting and safely using herbs that considers individual constitution, preparation forms, and dosing.

  • The Practitioner You Were Meant to Be: Elevating Functional Nutrition Through Spiritual Care

    Thursday, January 22, 2026, 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM ET

    Webinar: The Practitioner You Were Meant to Be: Elevating Functional Nutrition Through Spiritual Care presented by Mary Gannon Kaufmann, MS. RDN, MA, BCC


    January 22, 2026 330pm ET Register here 

    As the field of dietetics continues to evolve—now requiring advanced education and expanding into root-cause, lifestyle-focused care—a critical competency remains largely overlooked: the ability to understand and integrate a person’s sense of meaning, purpose, and spirituality into nutritional counseling. This webinar introduces spiritual care as an essential, evidence-based component of whole-person health that supports sustainable lifestyle change and empowers both client and practitioner. 

    We will explore what spirituality entails for all human persons—distinct from but inclusive of religion—especially in the early stages of therapeutic encounters. We will define and differentiate spiritual care, spiritual distress, and the impact of grief, providing frameworks and tools for assessing and responding to these dimensions within the dietitian’s scope of practice. 

     

    Special attention will be given to: 

    • How to practically integrate spiritual care into the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) 
    • The growing body of evidence linking spirituality with improved physical and mental health outcomes 
    • Recognizing spirituality as a social determinant of health 
    • Strategies for recognizing and managing practitioner compassion fatigue, grief avoidance, and burnout 
    • How personal self-awareness, reflective practice, and professional growth deepen our ability to offer meaningful, transformative care 


    This webinar invites dietitians to grow not only in clinical competency but also in their capacity to be present, attuned, and effective in facilitating lasting, lifestyle-based healing for the whole person—body, mind, and spirit.

  • Integrative Healthcare Symposium

    Thursday, February 19 - Saturday, February 21, 2026

    DIFM Members:  Save 20% on the 21st Annual Integrative Healthcare Symposium (IHS)

    We're excited to let you know that DIFM is once again partnering with the Integrative Healthcare Symposium on its 21st annual event. Taking place February 19-21 at the Hilton Midtown in New York, the 2026 agenda features an evidence-based program that brings together a powerful mix of established experts and rising stars to deliver research-driven content, discuss bold new protocols, and explore next-gen strategies. You will walk away with enhanced clinical knowledge that you can put to use right away and a stronger, lasting professional network.

    Use Promo Code DIFM20 and Save 20% on a Full Conference Pass

    *Offer valid only for new registrations and the Full Conference Pass option.

    Subject to review and approval by the IHS team & cannot be combined with any other offer.

    Early bird registration deadline: December 19

    Discounted hotel rates end: January 16

    https://www.ihsymposium.com/

    New York, NY, United States

  • Save the Date

    Saturday, March 14, 2026, 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM ET

    Metabolic Health as a Driver of Disease: A Spotlight on Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immune Resilience


    A powerful perspective in medicine is gaining evidentiary momentum: the root causes of immune dysregulation—including cancer and autoimmunity—stem from metabolic dysfunction. At its core, metabolic health encompasses mitochondrial and cellular integrity, lipid and glucose metabolism, energy production, and fuel utilization, all of which directly influence immune resilience. In oncology, the field is shifting from the Somatic Mutation Theory, which focuses on genetic damage, to the Metabolic Theory of Cancer, which emphasizes mitochondrial dysfunction as a driver of disrupted signaling and energy metabolism. Adding further complexity, the gut microbiota plays a pivotal role, as its metabolites can either safeguard or impair health-protecting or damaging DNA, regulating inflammation, influencing tumor proliferation, and modulating autoimmunity. All of this places nutrition, diet, and lifestyle front and center in both disease prevention and the optimization of health and immune resilience.