Nutrition, Heart Disease and Diabetes

I seldom give a 5-star rating to any course because I always believe that the course could have put an extra effort into the content, structure, layout, course assessments, and the learner support platform. The course on Nutrition, Heart Disease, and Diabetes checks all these boxes for me.

The strongest attribute of this course is undoubtedly its content. At first, the amount of information provided may seem overwhelming but the course gradually breaks down each topic from its tiny bits until all the details come together for a more comprehensive and meaningful picture. It explains that diseases like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and chronic kidney disease are part of a single cluster of diseases termed 'Cardiometabolic disease' and that each of these component diseases has an inter-related pathophysiological pathway. The discussion on each macronutrient and the evidence-based dietary guidelines provided through this course have certainly enhanced my knowledge. It also gives an overview of the genetics involved in chronic, complex diseases and how genetic research has contributed to our understanding of the biological processes that potentiate the onset of disease if a conducive environment is also present.

Some topics might be too technical for laypersons, but anyone with some high school knowledge on nutrition and non-communicable diseases may find this course enjoyable and very informative. It may also serve as a good 'primer' knowledge for medical doctors who have not been trained enough in the field of nutrition and disease. Besides the use of some technical terms, the less meaningful information given on several dietary trials, and the lack of a practical dietary guideline that can be applied immediately in clinical practice, the course still manages to deliver valuable and convincing content that empowers anyone to take their health more seriously.

From the title of the course, it appears that this course should be focusing on nutritional therapy for cardiometabolic diseases. However, the course didn't really focus on that and largely focused on the pathophysiology, genetics and epigenetics. Indeed, these areas are very important in the management of cardiometabolic diseases, however, the title of this course should be Nutrigenomics of Cardiometabolic diseases rather than Nutrition, Heart and Diabetes.

Nutritional therapy was discussed as an overview in the course. One video combined many eating patterns and discussed them in quick sentences. For instance, low carb diet (ketogenic diet) has been mentioned as nutritional therapy for T2DM in the ADA T2DM Nutrition guidelines, why it was not discussed sufficiently in this course? Another example, there are many research evidences on the role of intermittent fasting and low-calorie diet as nutritional therapy for obesity, why this was not discussed? Studies on plant-based diet was not really discussed enough. A course with the title of Nutrition, Heart and Diabetes should have discussed all of these dietary approaches in details.

If you are interested in the research area of Nutrigenomics, I advise you to take this course.

My objective for taking this course, as a functional health researcher, was to broaden my knowledge in the area of cardiometabolic diseases, as well as to learn about potential non-pharmacological solutions and cures.

The course covers a broad topic of heart disease and diabetes from several aspects, and in a relatively compressed fashion. It lays a solid foundation of knowledge, for further research, advanced courses, or deep dives into the topic for those who are eager to pursue that.

Even though I had read and reviewed many books and research papers on the topic, I still managed to learn some new and interesting things from this course, adding to my knowledge base.

Thus, I would surely recommend this course to anyone interested in the topics of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and/or health promoting dietary approaches.

Hello All.

This course has definitely exposed me to the; history, current events and the potential future of nutrition. Especially in relation to non-communicable diseases.

Already, nutrition can be a complex and highly polarizing area of study. I really appreciated the fact that the facilitators were open and honest about this.

A lot of information was presented and it also forced me to try and scrutinize some of the "expert opinions" that most people just accept, when it comes to nutrition.

Also, some of the assignments that involve you doing your own research, helped demystify a lot of unwarranted fears surrounding academia.

The assignments also invariably exposes one to information that piques the curiosity (e.g, why were cigarettes part of the K-rations that were formulated by Ancel Keys, to be given to paratroopers during World War 2?!).

Having followed the certified track, i got the impression, that the facilitators really wanted the important concepts to be grasped. In line with that, the following were of immense help:

- videos of interviews with experienced and seasoned researchers

- repeatedly asking follow-up questions after introduction of new topics

- links to resources for further reading; ongoing research projects, already published research articles, WHO & FAO bulletins etc.

Overall, it has been quite an impressively didactic course which has helped me learn more than I thought I would.

Much appreciation to the staff who put this course together.

The information given is certainly interesting and goes very much into depth. For myself, I had hoped to find out more about what role vitamins, minerals and other supplements play and whether or not we should integrate them into our diet.

Personally, I found module 4 too hard and too much going into detail. I am not interested in that particular topic of (epi-)genetics and all sorts of trials that can be done. I prefer more hands-on information about different foods. I would have liked to see more concrete advise about nutritional guidelines. Instead, I found a lot of theory about (epi-) genetics, which is certainly an important part of nutrition, however again, it was for me too theoretical and I cannot translate that into my daily life. I would like to give advice and be able to explain why certain foods are not good for you and what they can cause in the body.

During this course, I found some information, but because it often went very theoretical, I lost at times interest and the connection.

Right now, I'm not sure of what I have learned, what I will remember and what I will be able to translate into my and others daily life.

Still, it made it clear to me that the topic nutrition, heart disease and diabetes is far more complex than expected and I thank you for your work and research in finding out the best way in preventing and healing illness.