The science of nutrition and healthy eating

Are we really what we eat? How do we know what is in our food? Does it need to be difficult to follow a healthy eating pattern?This free course, The science of nutrition and healthy eating, will help you to answer these questions.TranscriptYou'll look at the science behind nutrition, covering aspects of biology, chemistry and physics as well as gaining insight into healthier eating. Reading food labels, choosing healthier foods, hydrating appropriately and understanding how we taste food will allow you to be more informed about the choices you make for the food you eat. You'll also investigate how information about healthy eating differs around the world.The biology part of the course will focus on the digestive system and how the body uses the elements in our food to function. It is important to understand the macro and micro nutrients in the foods we eat and how our bodies use them. Some people follow food restriction due to choice or religious observation. Malnutrition is not just a concern for developing countries – it can mean over nutrition as well as under nutrition. Sometimes certain components of food can be an enemy rather than beneficial, so special diets have to be followed.When you've finished the course, you may even wish to consider what you eat at the moment and what changes you will make as a result of what you have learned! This OpenLearn science course was produced with the kind support of Dangoor Education, the educational arm of The Exilarch's Foundation.   This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation. Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation - which also displays your Open University badge.The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.