Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition

Wageningen University via edX

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Go to class

Provider

edX
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

English
Certificate

$249.00 Certificate Available
Duration & workload

9 weeks, 6-8 hours a week
Sessions

On-Demand
Subtitles

English

Found in

Part of

Food, Nutrition and Health

Overview

Food plays a central role in our society but few people actually understand what it does to our bodies. Learn more about nutrition and how our diet profoundly impacts our current and future health. This introductory nutrition course addresses the relationship between nutrition and human health with a focus on health problems related to overnutrition.

In this course, Professor Sander Kersten from Wageningen University will introduce you to the chemistry of the three macronutrients fat, carbohydrate and protein. You will learn how macronutrients are absorbed, stored, and metabolized for energy, and you will gain a contemporary view of how different types of fats, carbohydrates and proteins affect human health. Moreover, the course will cover energy homeostasis and the regulation of bodyweight, and provides ample coverage of the topic of obesity. Finally, it will make you familiar with nutritional research and research methodologies.

For whom?

The MOOC Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition is especially useful for health care professionals and people working in the food industry with a non-nutrition background. You will develop a critical mindset by learning to better weigh and interpret information about food, nutrition and health.

This course, is part of the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program of Wageningen University & Research. Did you already complete Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition? That is the other course in the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program. To explore other learning opportunities about nutrition, have a look at the courses:

Food Risks
Human Microbiome
Nutrition and Cancer
Nutrition, Heart Disease and Diabetes

Syllabus

Module 1: Basic Principles
In the first module you will be introduced into the basics of nutritional science
and you will learn about the different study designs that are used in nutrition
research.

Module 2: Carbohydrates
In this module you will be introduced to the basics of carbohydrates.

Module 3: Carbohydrates and Health (verified learner only)
In this module we will focus on the health effects of one specific group of
carbohydrates: sugar.

Module 4: Lipids
This module will teach you the basics of fats or lipids.

Module 5: Lipids and Health (verified learner only)
This module will start out by discussing cardiovascular (heart) disease and risk
factors for cardiovascular disease, and will go on to explore the effects of fatty acids
on cholesterol.

Module 6: Proteins and Health
The module starts with the basics of dietary protein, and will go on to address the
question of what specific health effects can be attributed to dietary protein.

Module 7: Energy homeostasis sand energy balance
In this module we will look at the balance between food (energy) intake and exergy
expenditure.

Module 8: Weight management
This module concentrates on weight management and the topic of obesity.

Module 9: Nutrition and Sports (verified learner only)
In this extra module we look at the impact of nutrition on exercise

Taught by

Sander Kersten

Reviews

4.7 rating, based on 369 Class Central reviews

4.5 rating at edX based on 69 ratings

Start your review of Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition

Anonymous

This course offered a good amount of information on nutrition and micronutrients and was overall engaging and interesting. But, I had two issues with it. First, the amount of information given to students auditing the course is insufficient, in my…

This course offered a good amount of information on nutrition and micronutrients and was overall engaging and interesting.

But, I had two issues with it. First, the amount of information given to students auditing the course is insufficient, in my opinion; a lot of content was reserved for verified track students. I get why assignments that require interaction with the professor or grading would be reserved for verified-only students, but blocking our access to some of the readings and videos seemed like overkill.

Second, whoever produced this is bad at their job. They made Dr. Kerston do stupid things for no reason, like pretending to sneeze in a bowl of flour, or wear a sticker on his head, or pretend to be at an airport. I am assuming that the target audience of this course is not elementary-school children who need dumb physical humor to stay engaged. It distracted from the content and was pretty insulting to the viewers, actually - it says a lot about what they think our intelligence level is.
MSatanove
30

Sander Kersten really knows his stuff. His English is not perfect, but he is clear. And he has a quirky sense of humour. I particularly like that he presents a very balanced view of controversial subjects. This is a very good course for anybody wanting basics in nutrition science and some clarity around all the conflicting information about nutrition. Also, both he and the TAs are far more active in the discussion forum than I've seen in any course so far (and I've taken or dabbled in a few), except perhaps Understanding the Brain from the U of Chicago, which also was very good. I like, too, that several weeks are opened at once, and it's possible to work ahead. I'm close to done with this course and thoroughly enjoying it.
Anonymous

I have learned so much about nutrition and how our body works, much more than I anticipated. I find it the right balance of pushing me and expecting me to do my own research. The language part is a little challenging yet there is some humour and an expectation that we should understand the information at the end, not just know how to get the right answers on the test. I like that part. No dumbing down here.
Agustiah Agustiah @agustiah
13

Very informative course, that explains important nutrients and their metabolism and effect to body/ health. This course also discusses some options to live healthier lifestyle, what works, what doesn't
Elena Nunez
15

I found this course extremely useful when you are trying to understand the basic concepts of nutrition and how your diet affects your health and general well-being.
It also provides very valuable tools to analyze the enormous amount of information related to food, nutrition and health that is now available to the general public through the media, helping us to separate truth from uninformed and misleading conclusions.
On the other hand, Professor Sander's great sense of humor and an excellent team and great technological platform made me really enjoy this course
Anonymous

Review Suggestion:
"As a medical professional with a background in surgery and nursing, I found this course on Nutrition and Health from Wageningen University to be exceptionally rigorous and insightful. The modules, especially the sections on the genetic causes of obesity (like the KSR2 mutation) and the impact of the obesogenic environment, provided a deep scientific understanding that is directly applicable to clinical practice. The course brilliantly bridges the gap between complex genetic theories and practical nutritional solutions. It has significantly enhanced my ability to provide evidence-based guidance for metabolic health. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a serious, science-backed foundation in nutritional sciences."
Maboroshi
82

Nice course. The course content is elaborate and well-organized, combined with moderate reading materials and well-knit lectures. The quizzes are a bit of tricky with only one time trial allowed.
Anonymous

Really god course. Helped me to understand the basics but not only: gives a great overview of the variety of subject you can (and have to!) tackle in the process of learning about your own body, and pass down this information to others
Anonymous

Interesting subject. I learnt some facts (which are nice to have but not most important to me). I rather liked the overall ongoing insights on what is scientific consensus (and what not) and think that this part could have been more deepened out (but probably that was not the aim of this course). I wonder, when I would be student, would this be all? We just scratched on this subject. I am wondering if it is possible to reach a broader audience with the information we received without all the specific terminology (or in other words: are the specialists those who know the name of a certain enzyme or disease (this was sometimes tested))? So, to conclude: it was interesting but personally I would have expected a deeper and broader knowledge.
Anonymous

This course is supreme. It gives me an understanding of what science says and which popular myths are false, and everything is based on chemistry and physics, while sufficiently simplifying biochemical knowledge.
Anonymous

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course so much and definitely recommend it. I have told many friends about EDX and they too have enrolled in courses that adhere to their specific interests. One of the factors of the course I enjoyed are the many visu…

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course so much and definitely recommend it. I have told many friends about EDX and they too have enrolled in courses that adhere to their specific interests. One of the factors of the course I enjoyed are the many visual and audible lessons. It is great to be able to go back and refer to a video or physical diagram to help you retain the information better. I feel the course is structured very well, implementing the right definitions at the right time. I highly suggest looking at your glossary during the course work, it helps immensely for terms that may be new to you and unfamiliar. As is in my case, there were some terms that I could define, but within the context of the material are more complex. Professor Sander is funny and a very good teacher, the other student guides in the discussion forums are extremely helpful as well. They will answer your questions within a few days or sooner and their feedback is really appreciated. You can do the course at your own pace which is fantastic, some you will go through faster than others but I recommend to take your time on any material you may be stuck on, check reliable sources such as websites ending in .edu or .org, instead of .com. Here you are most likely going to get substantial evidence from scientific research studies as opposed to an open area field where anyone can write basically anything they want.
The course has been exponentially fantastic for me, as this is my first stepping stone into the world on nutrition. I will never forget this experience and cannot wait to sign up for my next course!
Anonymous

The course does a fantastic job breaking down the different macronutrients—carbs, proteins, and fats—and explaining how they affect our health and overnutrition. I loved how it combined science with practical tips, making it easy to see how the concepts apply to everyday life. The lectures were clear and engaging, and the visuals really helped make complex ideas easier to understand. I also appreciated the focus on evidence-based nutrition, which helped me separate common myths from facts. Overall, this course gave me a much better understanding of nutrition and inspired me to make smarter food choices. I’d highly recommend it to anyone curious about health, diet, or nutrition in general!
Anonymous

Would be great to get some material to download, videos have a bit of a old touch, content is great but sometimes high-level and then extremely chemical (deep). Overall great course.
Anonymous

The various videos are very informative with the use of graphs and images. I also like how the explanations without videos are clearly written down, very organised. I think the most helpful aspect of this SPOC is the small quizes. They are not too long so I do them, and they help me think about the context of this SPOC. I also like the Discussion Forums which give me an opportunity to think about the topics myself and work with them.
Magda Hanna Somfai

Clear, structured course with a consistently academic tone. The instructors make a clear distinction between what is well-established, what is uncertain, and what the current evidence actually allows us to say. In a few places I would have liked a bit more nuance on complex topics, but overall very solid and trustworthy.
Anonymous

The freely available lectures are too focused on the chemical jargon and not on the information that can be useful to the students. This is especially the case in the "quizzes", which are often about matching arbitrary chemical names rather than reflecting any functional knowledge.

I was particularly frustrated by the bait-and-switch of blocking some of the most important lectures (such as "carbohydrates and health", or "protein and health") behind the verified pay wall.

Where it matters, the course seems to be very superficial.
Anonymous

This is probably the best online course I have ever taken - in terms of content, presentation, and explanation. I would heartly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in a general - and gentle - introduction to the topic - which includes enough deep-dive material for many interesting AI lookups. Full disclosure - I audited the course. Special thanks to the course author and presenter!
Anonymous

This MOOC course on nutrition is very much useful in solving alot of health challenges which results from over nutrition or under nutrition
Anonymous

Great program, very detailed but still easy to comprehend. I am very pleased with what I have learned and would highly recommend to anyone interested in the subject.
Anonymous

I really like this course. It has been of great help to me. I am currently in the catering industry and would be more interested in nutrition. If there are any other nutrition courses in the future, I will continue to follow and study them! Thank you!