Learning outcomes
The course aims to deepen the knowledge of postgraduate students to understand the role and importance of nutrition as a determining factor of well-being. The course is divided into two sections. On successful completion of the first section, ‘Nutrition Quality and Wellbeing’, postgraduate students will assess and relate nutrients and their properties to diet quality and how they are related to the biochemical, metabolic and physiological functioning of the organism. They will describe the nutritional standards and know the processes of developing health claims. They will identify and describe contemporary nutritional challenges in the light of European and international initiatives for sustainable nutrition. Upon completion of the second section of the course entitled ‘Nutritional Discrepancies and Diseases’, postgraduate students will examine and analyze the relationship between nutrition, health and predisposition to the occurrence of non-communicable diseases (high prevalence) such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, in relation to the way of life in modern societies.
Outline of course content
Quality of Nutrition and Well-being
- Dietary rules – standards
- Control of appetite, energy balance and body weight by the central nervous system
- Nutrition sports and aging
- Social dimension of nutrition – eating habits
- The connection of nutrition with the theory of free radicals. The oxidizing and anti-oxidizing action of nutritional components. Polyphenols and phytochemical compounds
- European regulations for health claims aimed at the development of nutraceuticals
- Sustainable food and environment – New and old food sources
- Global nutrition organizations and initiatives (FAO-WHO-FDA–EFSA): Clinical, pre-clinical and regulatory studies and risk assessment of dietary supplements
Nutritional deviations and diseases (non-communicable diseases)
- The role of nutrition in diabetes and cancer
- The role of nutrition in cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and dyslipidemias
- Metabolic syndrome
- Malnutrition and obesity