I signed up for this nutrition course

[Ice Cream]

http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2013/05/coursera-nutrition/

I hope it works with podcasts, though, since I will be traveling in the next 6 weeks.

[CheryG]

Thanks for posting this!  I signed up too.  I hope it's better than the Equine Nutrition course I took through coursera recently.  The material was good, it was just really, REALLY remedial.

[Ribs]

Thanks for reminding me of coursera.
I just signed up for a Design course. I'm a little late. It started last Sunday so I missed the first assignment, but it's 8 weeks and lots of interesting work so I'm going to make up what I can and keep going from there.

[Ice Cream]

Thanks for posting this!  I signed up too.  I hope it's better than the Equine Nutrition course I took through coursera recently.  The material was good, it was just really, REALLY remedial.

I started it; it's quite good. 

[CheryG]

I've only watched half of the required videos, oops. 

I'm glad I did a little fitday recently, so was able to do the homework/quiz.

[CheryG]

Love the Hungry Planet stuff.

[wherestheportojohn]

Love the Hungry Planet stuff.

Do you have the book?
Is there course discussion?

I've not read the book, only paged through a friend's copy a couple years ago.
Amazing stuff!
Guess I'll head to the library....

[CheryG]

There is course discussion, not much.  The course, so far, is pretty standard ratemyplate stuff.  There will be some on plant based diets on maybe week five or so.  Menzel commented that all the pictures in his presentation were on his website. http://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery-slideshow/G0000dcX0a5UM_Vk

[CheryG]

Confession:  I unenrolled.

[Ice Cream]

I am still taking it, but I am behind due to travel.  I am not learning a lot, but some things she said were new to me, and she offers interesting perspectives.  She said lots of stuff on dietary supplements that were new to me, though.  I like it.

[CheryG]

I didn't feel like I was learning enough to warrant the effort.  If it were an actual course, MAYBE.  The videos seemed too long and the homework annoying.  The research a supplement homework was my undoing.  It's summer, there's too much else to do.

[Ice Cream]

I didn't feel like I was learning enough to warrant the effort.  If it were an actual course, MAYBE.  The videos seemed too long and the homework annoying.  The research a supplement homework was my undoing.  It's summer, there's too much else to do.

Oh, I am not doing the HW, only taking the quiz at the end of each week.  I like that it's split up in smaller segments and can do it over several sessions. 

To give an example of what I learned: I never really gave any thought to additives, and assumed that they were to be avoided. From a nutritional point of view, however, they have benefits and are not all that evil.  Even though she advocates that fresh foods are best, additives play a role.

I also understand the reservations about supplements far better now.

[leggova]

Would be interestied to know the reservations about supplements...

[Ice Cream]

Would be interestied to know the reservations about supplements...

You can still sign up for the course, I think.

[leggova]

You can still sign up for the course, I think.

Oh for the time....

[CheryG]

Would be interestied to know the reservations about supplements...

Well, I might not bring up all their points because I was bored and otherwise occupied during the lecture, but...

1- there's not enough good science on supplementation, and that would include your regular basic vit/mins as well as alternative nutraceuticals.
2- Certain illnesses might make supplementation contraindicated.
3- You might be getting enough in your diet already, particularly if you eat a lot of "fortified" foods, so supplementation could result in exceeding the amounts of certain vit/mins to a point that might be toxic for you.  It's hard to eat enough bananas to kill yourself, but potassium is deadly. 

It's just basic stuff, really.

[Magic Microbe]

Well, I might not bring up all their points because I was bored and otherwise occupied during the lecture, but...

1- there's not enough good science on supplementation, and that would include your regular basic vit/mins as well as alternative nutraceuticals.
2- Certain illnesses might make supplementation contraindicated.
3- You might be getting enough in your diet already, particularly if you eat a lot of "fortified" foods, so supplementation could result in exceeding the amounts of certain vit/mins to a point that might be toxic for you.  It's hard to eat enough bananas to kill yourself, but potassium is deadly. 

It's just basic stuff, really.

The third is what I learned in nutritional biochem in college. Plus a lot of multivitamins contain way more of some fat soluble vitamins than they should.

[Ice Cream]

Well, I might not bring up all their points because I was bored and otherwise occupied during the lecture, but...

1- there's not enough good science on supplementation, and that would include your regular basic vit/mins as well as alternative nutraceuticals.
2- Certain illnesses might make supplementation contraindicated.
3- You might be getting enough in your diet already, particularly if you eat a lot of "fortified" foods, so supplementation could result in exceeding the amounts of certain vit/mins to a point that might be toxic for you.  It's hard to eat enough bananas to kill yourself, but potassium is deadly. 

It's just basic stuff, really.

Those are only some of the concerns she mentions. The one that bothered me most was that independent lab research shows that what is on the label is not necessarily in the supplements, and that many supplements contain mold, etc.  In the following weeks, she talked about who might benefit from supplements.
She also addresses multivitamins, and seems to be most opposed to those. 

[leggova]

Thanks for info.