“The cause of nutrition and growth resides not in the organism as a whole but in the separate elementary parts—the cells.” Theodor Schwann

Welcome to Fundamental Nutrition. This course is designed to teach you the basics of human nutrition. With this in mind, we begin by establishing the rationale behind Health Canada’s serving suggestions, DRIs (dietary reference intakes) and the four major food groups. Next we will leap onto some basic chemistry followed by the anatomy of the human body (almost exclusively focused on the digestive system). Then we will spend the remainder of the semester on simple and complex carbohydrates, lipids, protein, fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins, major and trace minerals and water. Of course, one of the reasons we eat is to obtain energy. We will conclude this part of the course by demystifying what is energy and how the body obtains energy from the nutrients it digests and absorbs.

The course will conclude with two issues facing modern day diets. The first is food safety where we will cover foodborne pathogens, food additives and genetically-modified foods (GMOs). The second issue will be on food sustainability where we will explore how and what we eat affects the environment.

Each lecture will conclude with a short segment on how to cook simple, inexpensive meals using proper kitchen tools. The nutritional quality of the meals will be provided along with the science behind the craft of cooking.

“The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity, than the discovery of a new star” Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin