Nutrition, Diet & Health Science Course Outline

The function of nutrients in food choices; assessing nutritional health.

How nutrition discoveries are made; how nutrition experiments translate into guidelines; identifying available nutrition tools to help plan healthier diets.

Tracing the path of a meal from the time it is eaten until it has been digested, absorbed, transported within the body, and metabolized—all the way to the point when the body excretes the meal’s nonabsorbable waste products.

Defines carbohydrates; how the body uses carbs; how to plan a diet that includes the correct amount of all types of carbohydrates.

Defines lipids; how lipids function in the body; identifying current recommendations for the amount of fats people should consume and avoid.

Defines proteins; functions of proteins in our diet; how proteins promote good health.

The role of body weight and body fat in our overall health.

Defines vitamins; how vitamins are grouped; how the body uses vitamins.

The function of water as a macronutrient; the role minerals play in maintaining the body’s health; identifying trace minerals and how they work in balance with each other.

Maintaining adequate nutrition; the role of fortified foods and dietary supplements in nutrition and good health.

The influence of exercise on nutritional status and overall health; nutrition’s impact on exercise.

The processes related to fetal growth and development; the role of adequate nutrition and consistent prenatal care in reducing the number of high-risk pregnancies and low birth-weight babies.

The effects of nutrition choices from birth to adulthood; the effects of nutrition and lifestyle choices on physiological changes related to aging.

The safety of our food supply; making wise choices regarding the sources of our daily diet.

The many aspects of feeding the world’s population including nutritional requirements, food production, politics, and economics.