Online Course
Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition
Found in
Nutrition & Wellness
- Provider edX
- Cost Free Online Course (Audit)
- Session Self Paced
- Language English
- Certificate $99 Certificate Available
- Effort 6-8 hours a week
- Duration 9 weeks long
- Learn more about MOOCs
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Overview
There is an overload of information about nutrition and health, but what is the truth and what can you do to improve the health of your patients? Learn more about nutrition and how our diet profoundly impacts our current and future health. This course addresses the relationship between nutrition and human health, with a focus on health problems related to overnutrition.
In this course, Professor Sander Kersten from Wageningen University & Research will explain about the composition of the three macronutrients: carbohydrates, fat and protein. You will learn about their role in the body (how they are absorbed, stored and metabolized for energy) and their impact on our health. Moreover, this course will cover energy homeostasis and the regulation of body weight. You will learn about overweight and obesity and strategies to improve and combat these problems of overnutrition. Finally, the course will make you familiar with nutritional research and research methodologies.
This course is especially useful for health care professionals and people working in the food industry with a non-nutrition background. You will develop a critical mindset by learning to better weigh and interpret information about food, nutrition and health.
This course, is part of the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program of Wageningen University & Research. Did you already complete Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition? That is the other course in the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program. To explore other learning opportunities about nutrition, have a look at the courses:
Syllabus
Module 1: Basic Principles
In the first module you will be introduced into the basics of nutritional science
and you will learn about the different study designs that are used in nutrition
research.
Module 2: Carbohydrates
In this module you will be introduced to the basics of carbohydrates.
Module 3: Carbohydrates and Health (verified learner only)
In this module we will focus on the health effects of one specific group of
carbohydrates: sugar.
Module 4: Lipids
This module will teach you the basics of fats or lipids.
Module 5: Lipids and Health (verified learner only)
This module will start out by discussing cardiovascular (heart) disease and risk
factors for cardiovascular disease, and will go on to explore the effects of fatty acids
on cholesterol.
Module 6: Proteins and Health
The module starts with the basics of dietary protein, and will go on to address the
question of what specific health effects can be attributed to dietary protein.
Module 7: Energy homeostasis sand energy balance
In this module we will look at the balance between food (energy) intake and exergy
expenditure.
Module 8: Weight management
This module concentrates on weight management and the topic of obesity.
Module 9: Nutrition and Sports (verified learner only)
In this extra module we look at the impact of nutrition on exercise
____________________________
If you like this course, you might also like:
In the first module you will be introduced into the basics of nutritional science
and you will learn about the different study designs that are used in nutrition
research.
Module 2: Carbohydrates
In this module you will be introduced to the basics of carbohydrates.
Module 3: Carbohydrates and Health (verified learner only)
In this module we will focus on the health effects of one specific group of
carbohydrates: sugar.
Module 4: Lipids
This module will teach you the basics of fats or lipids.
Module 5: Lipids and Health (verified learner only)
This module will start out by discussing cardiovascular (heart) disease and risk
factors for cardiovascular disease, and will go on to explore the effects of fatty acids
on cholesterol.
Module 6: Proteins and Health
The module starts with the basics of dietary protein, and will go on to address the
question of what specific health effects can be attributed to dietary protein.
Module 7: Energy homeostasis sand energy balance
In this module we will look at the balance between food (energy) intake and exergy
expenditure.
Module 8: Weight management
This module concentrates on weight management and the topic of obesity.
Module 9: Nutrition and Sports (verified learner only)
In this extra module we look at the impact of nutrition on exercise
____________________________
If you like this course, you might also like:
Taught by
Sander Kersten
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Reviews for edX's Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition Based on 19 reviews
- 5 stars 32%
- 4 stars 58%
- 3 star 0%
- 2 star 5%
- 1 star 5%
Did you take this course? Share your experience with other students.
Write a review- 1
Shinde
is taking this course right now and found the course difficulty to be medium.
I like this course .it is different from other online courses .and I got extra knowledge
.free course with certificate.
.free course with certificate.
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Msatanove M
by
Msatanove
is taking this course right now.
Sander Kersten really knows his stuff. His English is not perfect, but he is clear. And he has a quirky sense of humour. I particularly like that he presents a very balanced view of controversial subjects. This is a very good course for anybody wanting basics in nutrition science and some clarity around all the conflicting information about nutrition. Also, both he and the TAs are far more active in the discussion forum than I've seen in any course so far (and I've taken or dabbled in a few), except perhaps Understanding the Brain from the U of Chicago, which also was very good. I like, too, that several weeks are opened at once, and it's possible to work ahead. I'm close to done with this course and thoroughly enjoying it.
13
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Maboroshi M
by
Maboroshi
completed this course, spending 1 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be easy.
Nice course. The course content is elaborate and well-organized, combined with moderate reading materials and well-knit lectures. The quizzes are a bit of tricky with only one time trial allowed.
6
people found
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Elena N
by
Elena
completed this course, spending 5 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be easy.
I found this course extremely useful when you are trying to understand the basic concepts of nutrition and how your diet affects your health and general well-being.
It also provides very valuable tools to analyze the enormous amount of information related to food, nutrition and health that is now available to the general public through the media, helping us to separate truth from uninformed and misleading conclusions.
On the other hand, Professor Sander's great sense of humor and an excellent team and great technological platform made me really enjoy this course
It also provides very valuable tools to analyze the enormous amount of information related to food, nutrition and health that is now available to the general public through the media, helping us to separate truth from uninformed and misleading conclusions.
On the other hand, Professor Sander's great sense of humor and an excellent team and great technological platform made me really enjoy this course
4
people found
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Anonymous
Anonymous
is taking this course right now.
I have learned so much about nutrition and how our body works, much more than I anticipated. I find it the right balance of pushing me and expecting me to do my own research. The language part is a little challenging yet there is some humour and an expectation that we should understand the information at the end, not just know how to get the right answers on the test. I like that part. No dumbing down here.
5
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Anonymous
Anonymous
completed this course.
The freely available lectures are too focused on the chemical jargon and not on the information that can be useful to the students. This is especially the case in the "quizzes", which are often about matching arbitrary chemical names rather than reflecting any functional knowledge.
I was particularly frustrated by the bait-and-switch of blocking some of the most important lectures (such as "carbohydrates and health", or "protein and health") behind the verified pay wall.
Where it matters, the course seems to be very superficial.
I was particularly frustrated by the bait-and-switch of blocking some of the most important lectures (such as "carbohydrates and health", or "protein and health") behind the verified pay wall.
Where it matters, the course seems to be very superficial.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
Yao
completed this course, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.
Excellent course with an even better teacher. Essential to understand the key processes that occur inside our body regarding food.
I have learned how to know if a claim has scientific base or not, and how the different components of certain foods or drinks can affect both, positively and negatively our health.
I recommend this course to everyone.
I have learned how to know if a claim has scientific base or not, and how the different components of certain foods or drinks can affect both, positively and negatively our health.
I recommend this course to everyone.
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Yes
Anonymous
Anonymous
is taking this course right now.
Interesting subject. I learnt some facts (which are nice to have but not most important to me). I rather liked the overall ongoing insights on what is scientific consensus (and what not) and think that this part could have been more deepened out (but probably that was not the aim of this course). I wonder, when I would be student, would this be all? We just scratched on this subject. I am wondering if it is possible to reach a broader audience with the information we received without all the specific terminology (or in other words: are the specialists those who know the name of a certain enzyme or disease (this was sometimes tested))? So, to conclude: it was interesting but personally I would have expected a deeper and broader knowledge.
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Yes
Anonymous
Anonymous
is taking this course right now.
Well paced and very informative course. I have taken another course on nutrition that was a little more detailed on nutrients and food balance, but it did not address some of the topics that were touched up here. Overall a good experience.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
is taking this course right now.
I want improving in profisionality my backgraund and my experencia because I Am graduate Public Health in Peace University in Dili Timor Leste.
And Now I Am working in Internatoinal Organization in Nutrition Project.
And Now I Am working in Internatoinal Organization in Nutrition Project.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
completed this course.
This course about nutrition was great. I only went for the audit access and there was already a lot to learn. Thank you for the course.
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Yes
Anonymous
Anonymous
is taking this course right now.
Not for someone who has never taken chemistry or biology. Very difficult to memorize facts when you do Not understand what you are memorizing.
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