I use nutrition to help remedy health problems
Omy Naidoo is the founder and director of Newtricion Wellness Dieticians
Tell me about Newtricion Wellness Dieticians (NWD).
Newtricion Wellness Dieticians is one of SA’s largest dietician practices. We have nine clinical dieticians covering 12 private hospitals and more than 20 outpatient medical centres within KwaZulu-Natal.
In 2018, we launched our practice in Cape Town. NWD was awarded business of the year in the health and wellness category by the Roodepoort Chamber of Business. I was awarded champion entrepreneur of the year (Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business) for two years running.
What drew you to a career in the preventive side of the health industry?
I grew up in a family riddled with diabetes. I had an aunt who lost her vision at a young age and two uncles who had lowerlimb amputations due to diabetes.
As a young boy, I began to realise there must be more to this as these family members diligently took their medications. This sparked my interest in the role of diet in preventive medicine. Medicine today is so focused on reactive medicine that often preventive strategies are neglected.
First, my major client is the referring doctor. This could range from a general practitioner to a specialist physician, surgeon or intensivist. My role is to help their patients meet their treatment goals. An example would be a patient in ICU who has suffered a major trauma to the abdomen. The surgeon may refer the patient to me to prescribe intravenous nutrition as the gut may not work — or tube feeding. Nutrition in critical care is a growing field and now plays a crucial role in helping patients with a good outcome.
The second client is the patient who may have a medical condition that needs dietary intervention. This could range from an uncontrolled diabetic to a child with food allergies needing an elimination diet.
My day usually starts at 5am. I am a firm believer in the “power hour” to get reading and development done. I do hospital rounds throughout the day, overseeing the management of patients in the different hospitals. I sometimes have meetings in the afternoon with my team, who work out of Pietermaritzburg, discussing strategy and overall practice progress. I push myself to finish by 5.30pm so I can have supper with my wife.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
I have always loved science, so anything in the science field. I wasn’t too fazed by the exact career but knew I always wanted to be able to help people in some way through science.
What do you find most meaningful about the work you do?
Being able to help people. We face a huge issue of unemployment among dieticians in SA. I find meaning in being able to upskill and empower young dieticians so they do not form part of the unemployment statistics. I also find meaning in helping patients and hearing of their successes.
What is the best career advice you have received, and who gave it to you?
This was a chance meeting, where I bumped into Vivian Reddy about 10 years ago. I asked him for advice, and he said: “No matter what you do, do it well.” As simplistic and clichéd as it might have been, it has stuck with me, playing on repeat at times when I was looking for motivation.