Food as Medicine Course Overview
Explore the role of food in health. Apply nutrition science to guide you on using food as medicine for you and your family. This course introduces the concept of food as medicine. You will explore how food can be important both in preventative health and as an aid in the management of certain chronic diseases today, in the past, and in the future.
In The Food as Medicine FutureLearn Course, You will also learn about what’s in food that gives it the potential to improve our health and how to recognize which types of foods are essential for health and wellbeing, and how food can play an important role in treating/preventing disease.
How can we use food as medicine?
Are you interested in learning how food can be used as medicine? If you want to understand the power of nutrition, this 3-week course will teach you about the role of food in improving health.
You will explore how food can be important both in preventative health and as an aid in the management of certain chronic diseases today, in the past and in the future.
Why macronutrients and antioxidants are special?
To begin, you’ll learn about what food contains and what makes it special. From macronutrients and micronutrients to antioxidants, you’ll discover how each element contributes to your overall health and wellbeing.
We’ll explore how food was used as medicine in the past and the role food plays in disease prevention and treatment. You’ll also learn how we can make food a part of medicine in the future.
The importance of nutrition for your brain and gut
In your second week, you’ll investigate the different relationships between food and the gut, brain, appetite, and genes. You’ll also gain an understanding of how food affects fertility and pregnancy.
You’ll study examples of food as medicine, including the FODMAP diet for IBS and probiotics for gut health. Find out how your body controls your appetite and learn more about the eating pattern known as ‘food addiction’.
Mindful eating and the future of food
Finally, we’ll discuss the complexities of nutrition science, how it’s evolving, and how nutrition misinformation may end up as fact. Then you’ll learn to apply mindfulness to the way you engage with your food.
The future of food is exciting, so we’ll explore how food may be used as medicine in the future, and the potential role food will play in your health and wellbeing.
This course will have a broad general interest appeal to everyone interested in food, nutrition, and health. But it will be of particular interest to healthcare professionals who are looking to have more evidence-based information, to assist them in providing food-based recommendations to their patients.
AfN Certified Course
This course has been certified by the Association for Nutrition. It meets AfN standards for nutrition training of individuals working at Level 1 on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
What does AfN Certification say about this course – please visit the Association for Nutrition website.
Please note completion of this course does not lead to registration on the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists nor does it equip any individual to practice ethically as a nutritionist.
BDA Endorsed Course
BDA endorsement applies only to the educational content of the learning activity. Completion of this course does not provide you with the qualifications to practice as a nutritionist or dietitian.
Course Syllabus
Week 1: Food as medicine
Week 2: A body systems approach for food as medicine
Week 3: Interpreting the science of food as medicine
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you’ll be able to…
- Describe what is meant by the term ‘food as medicine’ and list a number of examples of how foods have been used as medicine in the past.
- Identify how and which types of foods are essential for health and wellbeing, and play an important role in treating/preventing disease.
- Identify current evidence-based, nutrition-related public health guidelines and apply these to improve personal eating habits and nutritional intake.
- Identify foods/components of food that have an effect on different body systems, weight and appetite, fertility and pregnancy, and the genome.
Who is the course for?
This course will have a broad general interest appeal to everyone interested in food, nutrition, and health. But it will be of particular interest to healthcare professionals who are looking to have more evidence-based information, to assist them in providing food-based recommendations to their patients.
Teacher
- Helen Truby
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.