Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition

Wageningen University via edX

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Details

Go to class

Provider

edX
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

English
Certificate

$199.00 Certificate Available
Duration & workload

9 weeks long, 6-8 hours a week
Sessions
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

English

Found in

Nutrition & Wellness Courses

Part of

Food, Nutrition and Health

Overview

Food plays a central role in our society but few people actually understand what it does to our bodies. Learn more about nutrition and how our diet profoundly impacts our current and future health. This introductory nutrition 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 will introduce you to the chemistry of the three macronutrients fat, carbohydrate and protein. You will learn how macronutrients are absorbed, stored, and metabolized for energy, and you will gain a contemporary view of how different types of fats, carbohydrates and proteins affect human health. Moreover, the course will cover energy homeostasis and the regulation of bodyweight, and provides ample coverage of the topic of obesity. Finally, it will make you familiar with nutritional research and research methodologies.

For whom?

The MOOC Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition 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:

Food Risks
Human Microbiome
Nutrition and Cancer
Nutrition, Heart Disease and Diabetes

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

Taught by

Sander Kersten

Reviews

4.7 rating, based on 312 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition

Agustiah Agustiah @agustiah

Very informative course, that explains important nutrients and their metabolism and effect to body/ health. This course also discusses some options to live healthier lifestyle, what works, what doesn't
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

This course offered a good amount of information on nutrition and micronutrients and was overall engaging and interesting. But, I had two issues with it. First, the amount of information given to students auditing the course is insufficient, in my opinion;...

This course offered a good amount of information on nutrition and micronutrients and was overall engaging and interesting.

But, I had two issues with it. First, the amount of information given to students auditing the course is insufficient, in my opinion; a lot of content was reserved for verified track students. I get why assignments that require interaction with the professor or grading would be reserved for verified-only students, but blocking our access to some of the readings and videos seemed like overkill.

Second, whoever produced this is bad at their job. They made Dr. Kerston do stupid things for no reason, like pretending to sneeze in a bowl of flour, or wear a sticker on his head, or pretend to be at an airport. I am assuming that the target audience of this course is not elementary-school children who need dumb physical humor to stay engaged. It distracted from the content and was pretty insulting to the viewers, actually - it says a lot about what they think our intelligence level is.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course so much and definitely recommend it. I have told many friends about EDX and they too have enrolled in courses that adhere to their specific interests. One of the factors of the course I enjoyed are the many visual...

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course so much and definitely recommend it. I have told many friends about EDX and they too have enrolled in courses that adhere to their specific interests. One of the factors of the course I enjoyed are the many visual and audible lessons. It is great to be able to go back and refer to a video or physical diagram to help you retain the information better. I feel the course is structured very well, implementing the right definitions at the right time. I highly suggest looking at your glossary during the course work, it helps immensely for terms that may be new to you and unfamiliar. As is in my case, there were some terms that I could define, but within the context of the material are more complex. Professor Sander is funny and a very good teacher, the other student guides in the discussion forums are extremely helpful as well. They will answer your questions within a few days or sooner and their feedback is really appreciated. You can do the course at your own pace which is fantastic, some you will go through faster than others but I recommend to take your time on any material you may be stuck on, check reliable sources such as websites ending in .edu or .org, instead of .com. Here you are most likely going to get substantial evidence from scientific research studies as opposed to an open area field where anyone can write basically anything they want.
The course has been exponentially fantastic for me, as this is my first stepping stone into the world on nutrition. I will never forget this experience and cannot wait to sign up for my next course!
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

No list of lifestyle factors that contribute to longevity would be complete without nutrition . There is broad consensus that what we eat contributes significantly to our health. Maintaining good health is a critical factor in longevity. Unfortunately,...

No list of lifestyle factors that contribute to longevity would be complete without nutrition . There is broad consensus that what we eat contributes significantly to our health. Maintaining good health is a critical factor in longevity.

Unfortunately, recent social trends and technological developments have led to a dramatic shift in how humans eat. What is frequently referred to as a Western diet is rapidly spreading across the globe. Such a diet is characterized by a high proportion of processed and refined foods while being a poor source of natural foods such as fruits and vegetables. Bad nutrition leads to malfunctions in the regulation of the metabolism . There is a clear link between poor diet and the obesity epidemic that is also rapidly spreading across the globe. Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation , poor gut health and high levels of oxidative stress . Obese individuals are much more likely to
suffer from diabetes and are at higher risk of developing a number of other chronic diseases, most notably cardiovascular disease , which is the leading cause of death globally
Obesity is a complex illness which requires an understanding of multiple treatment modalities. In this unique and world-leading MSc, students will learn the latest techniques in the treatment of obesity which will incorporate the most up to date research in the area, new technologies and real-life treatment of this disease through clinical visits.
MSatanove

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.
Anonymous

Very interesting course, covering the basics of Health & Nutrition by taking a look at the three macro's. A very positive point of this course was that it combined extensive information about biological processes with amusing video's about cooking, interviews...

Very interesting course, covering the basics of Health & Nutrition by taking a look at the three macro's. A very positive point of this course was that it combined extensive information about biological processes with amusing video's about cooking, interviews in an informal way. This made the course fun and easy to follow. It also gave the opportunity to get additional information on certain topics if you were interested, by providing links to numerous scientific articles and pages. The only downside of these links is that some of them are not up to date anymore and thus lead to an error page. It would be great if those links could be updated.

All in all, an extremely interesting and educational course. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who is interested in the basic principles of nutrition.
Anonymous

I want to rate this course with 5 stars. The structure and organisation of the course modules is remarkable and easy to learn and absorb, for a beginner or someone refresher training and fact of current trends of nutrition, macronutrient and obesity are well covered.

The interactive sessions (reading other contributions), exercises and tests were very applicable; triggers reflections and follow ups on key points noted to get back to.

I want to say a big thank you to the organizers, tutors, invited professional guests and colleagues whom we covered this course together within the time frame.

Thank you again.
Anonymous

Nice and interested course and I'm looking forward to study more and more about nutrition, ad health,big thanks to my professor, who made the subject easy ,the examples and experiments he gave us,helped a lot to understand better,thank u edX for being kind with me ...all the respect from Ferial ...
Julius Darius Ochet

Its amazing how how much I learnt from this course. Until now, I personally don't struggle yet with any nutrition problem or eating disorder but I have always wanted to be aware and knowledgeable about what happens to my body after I have eaten, what food does to my body or how it influences my metabolism and as well, how my body might influence what or how I have to eat or even how much I have to eat. In this course, I learnt so much that I am really happy.
Anonymous

Dear reader, The MOOC is very enjoyable as it has high course material variation. If you take this class you'll be challenged using a forum and by watching your own dietary progress; although this might not be a solid requirement to pass module exams. It is fun to watch the structured video clips that were accompanied with a joke every once in a while. This is valuable as it increases to sense of nothing to go trough all materials by yourself.
Elena Nunez

Elena Nunez 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
Anonymous

I have really enjoyed this MOOC, the depth of knowledge taught has far exceeded my expectations, especially being a registered nurse. I truly have learnt so much. I also love the main educator, he is hilarious and has a unique ability to get information across in a way that is easily understood.
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.
Anonymous

One of the best free courses on nutrition, packed with the newest scientific learnings. It includes detailed information on macronutrients and physical processes but also highlights social and environmental factors contributing to obesity.
Anonymous

Great course! Provides you with a solid scientific foundation for further dietary research. The teacher is clear and precise, and the lectures are easy to follow (even for someone like me who is completly new to this matterial).
Anonymous

I really enjoyed the course. I found it challenging without being too hard to follow.
The combined use of videos, text and questions contributed to learning. Well done!
Anonymous

Well documented and reasoned. Lectures were concise and to the point, well-structured.
I'd highly recommend it.
Anonymous

Great way to begin your education or your passion in nutrition. Easy to understand with great side activities.
Anonymous

Interesting contents, well explained, all Developed in an easy way. This course also gives food for thought
Maboroshi

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.

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