PIONEERING NUTRITIONAL COUNSELOR
April 25,
2012
Barbara Kravets, who began working
as a nutrition counselor more than 40 years ago, was instrumental in writing
the Illinois law that enabled nutritionists to become licensed practitioners.
Ms. Kravets also worked closely with
physicians and health food retailers to elevate the level of science,
documentation and professionalism in the field.
As a counselor, she was exceptional
in her presentation of information and her ability to help others make better
dietary choices, colleagues said. Patients credited Ms. Kravets with helping
them.
"Combining the information and
the presence to be able to actually make the change, that's the key in nutrition
counseling," said Michael Stroka, president of the American Nutrition
Association. "And she had it."
Ms. Kravets, 76, died of
complications from leukemia and lymphoma Wednesday, April 11, in Villa Marie
Claire Hospice and Palliative Care in Saddle River, N.J., said her daughter,
Laura Kravets.
She started studying nutrition in
1968, when her husband, Leonard, was diagnosed with diabetes. To help her
husband manage his condition, Ms. Kravets developed a high-nutrition, low-sugar
plan for her entire family, using sugar substitutes in the meals she prepared
and adapting recipes found in cookbooks.
The couple was featured in an
"Action Plan" column in the March 31, 1974, edition of the Chicago
Tribune.
"The diabetic exchange diet is
nothing more than a well-balanced, high nutrition diet that includes the proper
balance of the major and necessary food groups," Ms. Kravets told the
paper. "What is great about it is that the nutritionists have done all the
work for you. Everyone can adapt it to his own needs."
Dr. Denny Zeitlin, Ms. Kravets'
brother and a psychiatrist, said his sister "became a self-taught expert,
and this was the spur that would launch her career in clinical nutrition and
dietetics."
Ms. Kravets was born Barbara Zeitlin
and grew up on the North Shore, where she attended Highland Park High School.
She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Northwestern University where she graduated summa cum laude.
She became a board-certified
clinical nutritionist in 1986. In 1991, she co-drafted the Dietetic and
Nutrition Services Practice Act. The law required anyone practicing dietetics
and nutrition in Illinois to be licensed through the state's Department of
Financial and Professional Regulation.
"Illinois-licensed
nutritionists owe Barbara a huge debt of gratitude for her tough negotiations
on several occasions to craft a fair licensing law," said Jim Golick,
president of Better Health Nutrition Services.
"There are pioneers in the
field, but she was one of the handful in Illinois who made a difference,"
said Neil Levin, Nutrition Education Manager of the NOW Health Group.
Ms. Kravets' ideas were often
questioned by the medical community and her family. She read obscure medical journals from all over the globe to stay on top of developing health trends, said her son, Jim. She horrified her children by using
wheat-germ bread for their school lunches, said her daughter Linda Kravets.
"She was, literally, so
avant-garde for her time," Linda said.
She was fiercely protective of the
interests of her patients. She "earned their trust and kept it," her
son said.
Ms. Kravets first counseled Kristin
Cortina, of New York, a year ago. Cortina considers her "one of the most
life-changing people I've ever met."
"She helped me far better than
any medical doctor ever had," she said. "I wish I had met her earlier
in my life."
Ms. Kravets also is survived by two
grandchildren.
No services are planned.
Copyright © 2012, Chicago
Tribune
