Food Components and Health

This is a general nutrition course that addresses the relation between nutrition and human health, and is primarily aimed at food technology students. The course will address the following aspects:

• study design: how to design a proper nutritional study to examine the relation between food components and health?
• nutrient metabolism: how are macronutrients processed in the human body and how is this regulated?
• micronutrients: what is the specific role of vitamins and minerals and how do they influence human health?
• targeted nutrition: what are the specific nutritional requirements of certain populations (infants, pregnant women, elderly, athletes)?

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• demonstrate a broad overview of the field of nutritional science;
• based on a specific research question, come up with a basic design for a nutritional study;
• explain how macronutrients and micronutrients are processed in the human body;
• use dietary guidelines as a basis for reformulating foods;
• understand the mechanisms underlying the effect of nutrition on health and disease;
• estimate the nutritional requirements of specific groups including infants, elderly and athletes.

Assumed Knowledge:
Basic knowledge on Nutrition (FCH-11306 Nutritional Aspects of Foods)