The Scientific Basis of Nutrition
or
Are We Really What We Eat?

Syllabus

Access Excellence/University of California, San Diego
Instructor: Dr. Paul Saltman
Course #: 40025
Section #: 001
Index #: EX00047
Dates: 16 October 1995 - 8 January 1996

Weeks 1-2: The Science of Nutrition, The Mysticism of Food

• The human body requires 44 chemical nutrients to support life and growth.
• Each person lives in a "three dimensional" dietary space bounded by caloric needs, adequate nutrients, and their unique age, sex, height, life style and genetics.
• There are no good foods or bad foods, only healthy diets and unhealthy diets.

  Reading:
  UCSD Nutrition: Chapters 1-3
  New Nutrition: Unit 4

Weeks 3-4: The Fires of Life - The Body's Metabolism

• The getting and using of energy.
• Fueling the biological engine: carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
• The concept of calories as units of energy.
• The First Law of Thermodynamics: If you eat it and don't burn it you sit on it.

  Reading:
  UCSD Nutrition: Chapters 8-10
  New Nutrition: Unit 1

Weeks 5-6: Weight Management/Obesity/Anorexia

• Obesity, 20% greater body weight than ideal, is a defined physiological condition which correlates with coronary heart disease, stroke, late onset diabetes, hypertension, some cancers, and gall bladder problems.
• Obesity is caused by intake of total calories in excess of those required by an individual's basal metabolic rate (genetic) and their physical exercise.
• Refusal of nourishment (anorexia) or food bingeing and purging (bulimia) are serious health problems among adolescent women.

  Reading:
  UCSD Nutrition: Chapters 11, 25
  New Nutrition: Unit 6

Weeks 7-8: Vitamins

• There are 9 water soluble and 4 fat soluble vitamins required for optimum growth and development.
• Their structure and function as coenzymes and cofactors in biological reactions is known.
• The role of dietary supplements.
• Vitamins as pharmaceuticals: Vitamin C and folic acid.

  Reading:
  UCSD Nutrition: Chapters 4 and 5
  New Nutrition: Unit 2

Weeks 9-10: Minerals and Trace Elements

• There are 7 essential minerals including sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate and sulfate.
• Their primary functions include fluid and electrolyte balance, cell and bone structure, enzyme cofactors, and neuromuscular activity.
• The serious consequences of calcium deficiency for young and old.
• There are about 10 essential trace elements which comprise less than 0.01% of our total body weight.
• Trace elements are involved as enzyme cofactors, for oxygen transport, in hormone metabolism, and in the formation of bones.
• Inadequate dietary iron is the most widespread deficiency in the developed nations. Iron is required for the synthesis of hemoglobin and myoglobin, and the key enzymes of respiration.

  Reading: UCSD Nutrition: Chapters 6 and 7
  New Nutrition: Unit 3

NOTE: The final exam for this course will be made available online on 18 December 1995. The exam must be returned to the instructor by 8 January 1996. Further details about the exam, and other class information will be made available in the Instructor's introduction during the first week of the course.