Book Title: Nutrition Through the Life Cycle

Book Description

Eating is not a one-size fits all approach. Personal preferences, culture, income, food availability, food knowledge, age, and many other factors influence the food and eating choices we make. While humans can thrive on a variety of eating patterns, not all are ideal. Some are detrimental to our long-term health.

This book is designed to accompany NUTR251 Nutrition Through the Life Cycle at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course follows the introductory course Human Nutrition and Metabolism.  During the introductory course students studied the corner posts of nutrition knowledge, nutrients and their food sources, recommended amounts, digestion, absorption and their metabolism. Students were also introduced to the interaction between eating and chronic diseases. Nutrition Through the Lifecycle will build on this knowledge and expand it.

The paradigm of this course is Quality of life and healthy life expectancy depend on avoiding or delaying chronic diseases during life. Lifestyle choices during all life stages, especially the critical periods, prime the individual for the development of chronic diseases.

Based on this paradigm students will study how human physiology and metabolism change throughout life and how eating should adjust to it. Students will understand how malnutrition in all life stages profoundly impact quantity and quality of life.

This knowledge will allow students to understand professional recommendations and health policy for major life stages, but also will allow students to make better, individualized recommendations as future health professionals.