Inform the public: Create a public health brochure
Over the course of the final four lessons of the Metabolic Disease Module, students will work together in groups to create a 15 minute presentation about a current nutritional topic of their choice. Each group member must speak to at least one of the following points with evidence supporting their nutritional claims:
- Nutritional value: How does the diet/supplement impact the macronutrient and calorie consumption?
- Digestion of food: How does the diet/supplement impact digestion and absorption?
- Metabolism – blood glucose homeostasis: How does the diet/supplement impact blood glucose homeostasis via the anabolism and metabolism of glucose, glycerol, triglycerides, and amino acids?
- Metabolism – organ systems: How does the diet/supplement impact the actions of the major organs involved in maintaining blood glucose levels? (Think fasting and feasting.)
- Caloric needs and body composition: How does the diet/supplement impact body composition or the efficiency of calorie absorption?
- Hunger and satiety signals and the reward pathway: How does the diet/supplement impact regulation of hunger and satiety signals and reward pathway triggers and memories?
- Experimental design and data interpretation: How is the diet/supplement claim supported? What types of studies have been completed, and what are the limitations of those study types? What types of bias and confounding variables should be considered?
Example Project Topics:
- Paleo diet
- Pregnancy: Do and don’ts
- Muscle building supplements
- South Beach diet
- Adolescents: Do and don’ts
- Weight loss supplements
- Blood type diet
- Infants: Do and don’ts
- Other dietary supplements
- For an updated list of project topics click here
