Short answer
Complete a holistic nutrition program, a certificate, diploma or degree, and work with clients. For board certification (BCHN), add 500 contact hours and the board exam run with the National Association of Nutrition Professionals. "Holistic nutritionist" isn’t a licensed title, so check your state’s nutrition law before you give individualized plans: some states reserve that for licensed professionals.
The steps
- Check your state’s law first. It decides what you may call yourself and what advice you may give, so it should shape which training you choose. More on this below.
- Choose a program. Look for nutrition science as well as whole-food cooking, supervised work with real clients, teaching on when to refer, and a program that makes you eligible for the board exam.
- Work with clients and log the hours. Board certification asks for 500 contact hours, recorded on the board’s form.
- Sit the board exam, if you want it. You join the National Association of Nutrition Professionals as a professional member ($259 a year), apply ($129) and take the exam ($300), with your diploma or certificate, transcripts and two references.
- Set up your practice. Register the business, get professional liability insurance, and write down your scope: what you help with, and when you refer to a doctor or dietitian.
- Find your first clients. See the last section.
Holistic nutritionist, dietitian or health coach?
| Role | Training | Practice | Exam | Licensed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holistic nutritionist (BCHN) | A certificate, diploma or degree in holistic nutrition | 500 contact hours with clients | The board exam in holistic nutrition (optional) | No; what you may do depends on your state’s nutrition law |
| Registered dietitian (RDN) | A graduate degree (required since January 2024) and accredited dietetics coursework | At least 1,000 hours of supervised practice | The national registration exam (required) | Licensed or certified in many states |
| Health coach (NBC-HWC) | A health coach program the NBHWC approves | 50 logged coaching sessions | The national board exam (optional) | No license needed to coach |
Many holistic nutritionists also train as health coaches: the nutrition knowledge says what might help, and the coaching helps clients actually do it. How to become a health coach covers that path.
State nutrition laws
US states regulate nutrition in roughly three ways:
- Licensure with a defined scope. Individualized nutrition care is reserved for licensed professionals. Most of these laws have exemptions, for example for general, non-medical information.
- Title protection. Anyone may give nutrition advice, but titles such as "dietitian" or "licensed nutritionist" are reserved.
- No regulation. A few states don’t regulate the work or the titles.
Laws change, and the exemptions are where the detail is. Read your state’s statute and board rules; the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics keeps a page on each state’s law. Whatever your state, don’t give medical nutrition therapy for a condition, and leave anything about medicines to the client’s prescriber.
What holistic nutritionists earn
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts dietitians and nutritionists together: a median of $76,400 a year in May 2025, with 8% growth projected for 2025–35. Most in that count are licensed and employed. Holistic nutritionists mostly work for themselves, so earnings come from packages: price one to see what it leaves you per hour after fees.
Frequently asked
What is a holistic nutritionist?
A nutrition practitioner who looks at the whole person: what someone eats, and also sleep, stress, movement and how they feel about food. Holistic nutritionists favor whole foods and lasting habits, and work alongside a client’s doctor rather than in place of one.
What’s the difference between a holistic nutritionist and a dietitian?
A registered dietitian has a graduate degree, supervised practice and a national exam, and is licensed in many states, so can provide medical nutrition therapy for conditions. A holistic nutritionist’s training is shorter and not licensed, and in some states individualized nutrition care is reserved for licensed professionals.
Can I become a holistic nutritionist without a degree?
Yes. Holistic nutrition programs include certificates and diplomas as well as degrees. The board exam in holistic nutrition asks for a diploma or certificate in holistic nutrition, transcripts, two references and 500 contact hours, not a degree.
How long does it take to become a holistic nutritionist?
The length of your program, from months for a certificate to years for a degree, plus the time to log 500 hours with clients if you want board certification. New graduates can sit the exam first and use “Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition (Candidate)” until their hours are done.
How much does a holistic nutritionist make?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t count holistic nutritionists separately. Dietitians and nutritionists as a whole earned a median of $76,400 a year in May 2025, most of them employed and licensed. In private practice, you earn what your packages bring in, less fees.
Do I need a license to be a holistic nutritionist?
It depends on your state. Some license nutrition care and reserve individualized advice for licensed professionals, with exemptions; some protect only certain titles; a few don’t regulate it. Read your state’s statute before you give individualized plans, and call yourself what your state allows.
After you qualify: your first clients
- Choose who you help. A clear group (busy parents, women in perimenopause, people with gut symptoms their doctor has already checked) is easier to find and to talk to than "everyone".
- Make one package. A length, what happens each week and a price. How to price your coaching packages works out what a price leaves you per hour.
- Start with people who know you. Friends of friends, past colleagues and a few clinicians who can refer. Ask every early client what nearly stopped them signing up.
- Publish a coach page. On Holicoach, your page can appear in Find a coach, where people looking for help are matched by goal, language and time zone. The finder’s fee is 15% of that client's payments for their first 3 months, then nothing, and only on clients Holicoach introduces.
- Run the weeks between sessions. A weekly check-in, daily habits and messages are what clients pay a coach for. Holicoach’s Free plan has no monthly price: it takes 2% of what clients pay you.
More for new coaches
How to become a health coachHealth coach certificationSoftware for health coachesSoftware for holistic nutritionists
Sources
- National Association of Nutrition Professionals, Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition, and its application fees page, read 15 October 2026.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Dietitians and Nutritionists, read 15 October 2026.
- Commission on Dietetic Registration’s graduate degree requirement (from 1 January 2024), as described by university dietetics programs, read 15 October 2026.
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, licensure map and statutes by state.
- NBHWC, Get Board Certified, read 15 October 2026.
Holicoach is coaching software and isn’t paid by any school. This guide is general information, not legal or career advice.