This semester I enrolled in a nutrition class and am happy to report that I took the final exam yesterday!
I ended up with a 92.7% (A) and am certain it was one of the highest grades in the class. I enjoyed the class because nutrition is a very interesting topic to me, but I must admit that I was let down quite a bit. The class was an online class that required a lot of reading. There were eight modules and more than a fair share of chapters that coincided with each module.
My biggest challenge was forgetting everything I already knew about nutrition and reading the textbook
First, I noticed the book was on an anti-supplement campaign. For the first 8.5 chapters the book slammed the use of nutritional supplements. It repeatedly mentioned that all nutrients can be obtained from food and all we have to do is eat a variety of foods, and so on. And then… after hammering in that point into the reader’s brain… half-way through the 9th chapter it says, “A dietary supplement providing vitamins and minerals at or below 100 percent of the Daily Value can help people following low-kcalorie diets to achieve nutrient adequacy.”
Another example was the repeated attack on protein supplements. The book insisted these were not necessary. It went so far as to say that proteins all ended up being denatured in the stomach. It even included enzymes whenever there was a chance. First, about enzymes – If they don’t help, why do people who are lactose intolerance do well when they get medical recommendations for lactase? Now the protein drinks…
I agree. Protein drinks are largely ineffective and do little more than what eggs could do. There is an exception, however. The book says that whey protein is “popular among athletes” and that although it does not improve performance, experiments indicate it increases “protein synthesis slightly.” I promise to explain the details in a later post. For now, suffice it to say that improved protein synthesis is a big plus for everyone (athletes, people looking to lose weight, people wanting to keep weight off, EVERYONE).
The book had a lot of legacy recommendations. It would scare readers from consuming too much cholesterol and even suggested a limit of one egg per day for healthy adults and 2 eggs a week for those who suffered from high cholesterol. But it never gave a reference to a single study relating dietary cholesterol to an increase in blood cholesterol.
By “legacy recommendations,” I am referring to it making blind statements simply because they are the same statements that have always been made. I promise to explain the details in a later post.
To be fair, the book did have a lot of useful information and it really helped me better understand the human body. It put pieced together a few random things that had been introduced but not fully explained in my previous biology and biochemistry courses. The book (and class) is a must for anyone who has completed a health science degree.
The most fun part of the class was the discussions. Each module had a topic of discussion that was related to the subject we were studying. The professor would ask a question and each student had to answer it. The students also had comment on two other students’ initial responses.
I will post the questions and my responses, along with complete conversations I had with other students, in the next few days. Starting tomorrow, I will post module question 1 along with all conversation in which I participated and continue like this, posting one module question per day.
Required Legal Disclaimer: some of the links mentioned within this post or posts they lead to are my affiliate links and I get compensated for recommending those products. However I NEVER recommend something I don’t believe in and welcome your questions and feedback.
