Skip to content

Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition

Good to know

In short
  • Online course - MOOC
  • 9 weeks
  • 6-8 hours per week
  • Starts directly

Learn about this course

Introduction

Learn from the top professors of Wageningen University & Research about macronutrients and overnutrition and how they impact humans. This course is offered as a MOOC, and is part of the Professional Certificate Pogramme: Nutrition and Health.

Directly apply what you learn to your own business

De campus met bomen in geel-oranje herfstkleuren

Study at the best agricultural university in the world from the comfort of your own home

Plenty of opportunities to ask questions and to interact with other learners

A woman making notes, while sitting in a field filled with flowers and a shovel in the background

Explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life

Why follow this course?

The programme

Food plays a central role in our society but few people actually understand what it does to our bodies. Learn more about nutrition and how our diet profoundly impacts our current and future health. This introductory nutrition course addresses the relationship between nutrition and human health with a focus on health problems related to overnutrition.

In this course, Professor Sander Kersten from Wageningen University will introduce you to the chemistry of the three macronutrients fat, carbohydrate and protein. You will learn how macronutrients are absorbed, stored, and metabolized for energy, and you will gain a contemporary view of how different types of fats, carbohydrates and proteins affect human health. Moreover, the course will cover energy homeostasis and the regulation of bodyweight, and provides ample coverage of the topic of obesity. Finally, it will make you familiar with nutritional research and research methodologies.

Is this course for you?

For who?

No previous knowledge needed. By completing this course, you will have the necessary tools to better weigh and interpret the information overload about nutrition and health. You can continue learning with the course Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition.

What you will learn

Learning outcomes

You will learn

  • Broad view into the field of nutrition
  • Composition of foods
  • Basic chemistry of the macronutrients fat, carbohydrate and protein
  • How macronutrients are absorbed, stored, metabolized and how they may impact health
  • How to better weigh and interpret the information overload about nutrition and health
Top-ranked University
According to influential university rankings and citation indexes, Wageningen University & Research ranks world’s best in the field of Agriculture & Forestry.

Professional Certificate Programme Nutrition and Health

Certificate

This MOOC is part of the Professional Certificate Programme: Food, Nutrition and Health, which teaches you more about food, nutrition and how your diet impacts your health. The other MOOC in this programme is Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition.

MOOC Nutrition and Health Part 1: Macronutrients and Overnutrition | WUR

Learn the fundamentals of nutrition and its impact on human health.

Our course leader

Course leader

Interested in Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition?

Organisational unit

Wageningen Academy

Educational type

MOOC

Duration description

9 weeks, 6-8 hours per week

Accreditation

Certificate

Format

Online

Course starts immediately

Yes

Language of instruction

English