BIOL5325 - Nutritional Physiology

BIOL 5325 Nutritional Physiology (3 semester credit hours) The course examines nutrient utilization and requirements with an emphasis on multifaceted links between diet, health, genetics, microbiome, and diseases. Topics cover the basis of nutritional physiological phenomena, integration of energy metabolism, influence of diet on intestinal microbiota, and the effects of food on gene expression and metabolic programming. Biochemical functions and physiological requirements concerning macronutrients and major vitamins and minerals as well as the benefits of potentially protective plant-derived compounds are reviewed. The course also highlights the importance of nutrition as a key factor in shaping human variability and evolution as well as cultural and biological adaptation to the environment, providing an opportunity to connect the anthropological issues to nutritional science. Department consent required. (3-0) Y