Overview

By completing this course, you will be able to break down how carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals function in the body, understand digestion and absorption processes, and analyze how dietary frameworks influence health and performance outcomes. You’ll gain the ability to move beyond surface-level nutrition advice and think systematically about fueling strategies for weight management, performance, and long-term wellness. This course strengthens your ability to interpret research, compare dietary approaches, and make evidence-based decisions. What makes this course distinct is its emphasis on structure. Rather than promoting a single diet philosophy, it equips you with foundational principles that apply across populations and life stages. You’ll build the analytical skills needed to assess what works, why it works, and for whom. As Part 2 of the Specialization, this course deepens your scientific literacy and prepares you to think like a nutrition professional.

Syllabus

The Science of Eating Well
Nutrition

In this module, you’ll explore the foundations of nutrition and why food plays such a powerful role in health and well-being. You’ll learn how food choices are influenced not only by nutrients, but also by taste, culture, income, religion, and environment. By understanding the many factors that shape how and why people eat, you’ll gain a broader, more realistic view of nutrition in everyday life.

Cells, Body Systems, and Digestion

In this module, you’ll learn how the body is organized—from cells to tissues, organs, and body systems—and how these levels work together to support health. You’ll explore how digestion transforms food into nutrients that cells can use, trace the journey of food through the digestive tract, and examine the role of the gut microbiome and supporting organs. This module builds a foundation for understanding how nutrition affects the body at every level.

Metabolism and Energy Balance

In this module, you’ll explore how the body transforms food into energy through metabolism and how energy balance shapes health over time. You’ll learn how calories are used, how ATP powers every cell, and how different energy systems and fuel sources support daily activity and movement. This module explains why energy levels, body weight, and performance are influenced by long-term patterns—not single meals or short-term changes.

Navigating Diets

In this module, you’ll examine popular diets and eating trends through a critical, evidence-based lens. You’ll learn how to distinguish fad diets from sustainable eating patterns, explore the potential benefits and limitations of approaches such as plant-based, ketogenic, intermittent fasting, and gluten-free diets, and understand why balance and consistency matter more than quick results. This module also highlights evidence-based patterns like the DASH and Mediterranean diets, helping you evaluate dietary choices based on health, lifestyle, and long-term success.

Practical Ways to Observe, Modify, and Optimize Nutrition

In this module, you’ll learn a practical, flexible framework for improving nutrition over time through observation, modification, and optimization. You’ll explore how to identify current eating patterns without judgment, introduce small, realistic changes, and evaluate whether those changes are actually working in daily life. This module emphasizes using feedback—such as energy, digestion, performance, and satisfaction—to refine habits rather than follow rigid rules. By the end, you’ll have a repeatable process for adapting nutrition as your goals, lifestyle, and needs evolve.