Food as medicine is not new, but how many of us really understand how to use food and nutrition not only to boost the body's natural ability to heal but also for preventative and complementary therapy?

In this unique course you can learn how to manage eating patterns to help the body heal from common complaints, to manage conditions and to complement other treatments in response to health issues.

Therapeutic nutrition is the provision of nutrients to maintain and/ or restore optimal nutrition and health. Many conditions may require nutrition therapy for improved outcomes such as coeliac disease.

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction to Therapeutic Nutrition
   • What is Therapeutic Nutrition
   • Where is it Applied
   • Oral Nutrition
   • Nausea and Vomiting
   • Swallowing Problems
   • Weight Loss & Reduced Appetite
   • Nutritional Supplement
   • Artificial Nutrition
   • Eternal Nutrition
   • Parenteral Nutrition (Hyperalimentation)
2. Allergies and Intolerances
   • Food Allergy
   • Foot Intolerance
   • Diagnosis of Food Allergy or Intolerance
   • Dietary Management of Food Allergy and Intolerance
   • Peanut Allergy
   • Cow's Milk Allergy
   • Coeliac Disease
3. Diabetes
   • What is Diabetes?
   • Types of Diabetes
   • Complications Associated with Diabetes
   • Prevention and Treatment
   • Monitoring of Diabetes
   • Therapeutic Nutrition & Diabetes
4. Heart Disease, Hyperlipidemia and Arteriosclerosis
   • Introduction
   • Modifiable Risk Factors
   • Dietary Fat & Cholesterol
   • Other Dietary Factors
5. Renal/Kidney Conditions
   • Glomerulonephritis, Acute & Chronic
   • Nephrotic Syndrome
   • Nephrosclerosis
   • Acute Renal Failure (ARF)
   • Chronic Renal Failure (CRF)
   • Eating the right amount of Energy
   • Fluid Restrictions
   • Sodium Restrictions
   • Diet & Kidney Stones
6. Cancer
   • Dietary Factors associated with Cancer
   • Cancer Therapy
   • Nutritional Side-Effects and Suggested Dietary Management
7. Digestive Disorders & Diet - Oesophagus, Small Intestine, Colon
   • Introduction
   • Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
   • Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD): Crohn's Disease, Diverticulitis & Ulcerative Colitis
8. Other Metabolic Conditions (eg. Liver, Gall bladder, Pancreas, etc)
   • The Liver
   • Hepatitis
   • Cirrhosis
   • The Gallbladder
   • Gall Stones
   • The Pancreas
   • Acute Pancreatitis
   • Chronic Pancreatitis
9. Strategic Diet planning for a medical condition

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

• Discuss the nature and scope of Therapeutic Nutrition; and identify circumstances where diet may need modification
• Explain different types of food allergy and intolerance and provide information on diagnosis, clinical symptoms and appropriate dietary modifications.
• Explain what diabetes is and describe appropriate dietary adjustments that for people with Diabetes.
• Explain appropriate dietary adjustments that should be made for people with Cardiovascular Disease
• Explain appropriate dietary adjustments that should be made for people with Heart Disease, Hyperlipidemia or Arteriosclerosis
• Explain appropriate dietary adjustments that should be made for people with Kidney conditions
• Explain appropriate dietary adjustments that should be made for people with different types of cancer
• Explain appropriate dietary adjustments that should be made for people with a variety of digestive disorders
• Explain appropriate dietary adjustments that should be made for people with diseases of the liver, gall bladder and pancreas
• Evaluate the dietary requirements of a client or patient who has a medical condition; giving appropriate consideration to that condition, and to identify responsible options for diet planning in response to the situation.

Diet Recommendations for Diabetes

Current recommendations suggest that people with diabetes should follow a diet where 50% of energy they consume comes from carbohydrate (starches and sugars) with only 10% of total being simple sugars (sucrose). 35% of total energy should come from fats, particularly from monounsaturated fats and 15% of total energy should come from protein. We shall now look at some specifics of these recommendations:

Salt Intake

It is recommended that salt intake should be limited especially in individuals with Hypertension (raised blood pressure). Salt makes the body retain water and if we eat too much salt, the extra water stored in your body raises your blood pressure. It has been suggested that salt intake should be limited to 6g/day. This can be difficult because 80% of the salt we consume comes from processed foods like bread, biscuits and breakfast cereals, and prepared ready meals or takeaways. Only 20% comes from the salt we add while cooking or at the table. People will therefore need assistance to help them to read labels and identify foods that are high in added salt. As a general rule foods are low in salt if they contain 0.25g salt or less per 100g of food. They contain a medium amount of salt if they have 0.25-1.25g salt per 100g of food and are high in salt if they have 1.25g salt or more per 100g of food.

Fibre

Intakes of fibre rich foods should be increased especially those that are high in soluble fibre such as oats, legumes (peas, kidney beans, and lentils), barley, oats, fruits (such as apples), some green vegetables (such as broccoli) and potatoes. Soluble fibre may help control blood sugar by delaying gastric (stomach) emptying, retarding the entry of glucose into the bloodstream and lessening the rise in blood sugar levels that occurs after eating. The cholesterol-lowering effect of soluble fibres may also help those with diabetes by reducing heart disease risks. According to current guidelines, healthy adults should consume at least 18g of fibre a day.

Exercise

Exercise should be encouraged. Exercise is an important way to manage diabetes as it helps promote beneficial weight loss and also lowers blood sugar levels and helps insulin work more efficiently. Patients treated with insulin will need advice to prevent their blood sugars from dropping too low when they exercise. Emphasis should be placed on the benefits of regular exercise 20-30 minutes 5 times a week.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrate (from starches and sugars) raises post meal blood sugar levels more than any other nutrient. This observation led to the use of very low carbohydrate diets before insulin and other medication therapies were available. With the advent of these therapies, the avoidance of carbohydrates is no longer recommended. Instead, people with diabetes should receive accurate information on which foods contain carbohydrates and how to balance medication with the times when carbohydrates are eaten and the amounts that are eaten.

In addition, it is now known that not all foods containing carbohydrates raise blood sugars in the same way. For example 30g of carbohydrate from bread does not have the same effect as 30g of carbohydrate from fruit or as pasta. This is where the Glycaemic index (GI) diet comes into play (Figure 2). The GI is effectively a way of ranking carbohydrate-containing foods according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods are ranked on a scale 0 to 100, 100 being the response to a food of reference like glucose or white bread. Depending on their ranking, foods are labeled as high, medium or low GI.