The course aims to provide the tools needed to understand the importance of a proper diet for health benefits. The main objective is to give students the sound basis for understanding the relationship between diet, nutrition, and health.

Introduction to the course. Aims of Food Science.

Food, nutrition, and bioavailability of nutrients.

Energetic, plastic, and regulatory value of food. Homeostasis of body weight.

Foods: Composition and nutritional value. Essential nutrients and conditionally essential nutrients.

Carbohydrate-based food, HFCS, resistant starch, glycemic index, glycemic load and insulinemic index. Short mention to digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. Disorders of carbohydrate metabolism (e.g., lactose intolerance, galactose and fructose disorders, glycogen storage disorders, etc.).

Protein-based food. Amino Acid pool and protein turnover. Nutrition quality of food protein. Protein requirements. Nitrogen balance. Short mention to digestion and absorption of proteins. Disorders of protein metabolism (e.g., phenylketonuria, alkaptonuria, etc.).

Lipid-based food. Short mention to digestion and absorption of lipids. Composition and functions of the bile. Disorders of lipid metabolism (e.g., lipid malabsorption, bile salt deficiency, Hyperlipidemia etc.).

Energy offset: energy needs and basal metabolism. Factors influencing basal metabolism. Energy expenditure evaluation. Factors affecting energy expenditure.

Recommended nutrient intake levels (LARN, RDA). Guidelines for a healthy diet. Mediterranean diet and food pyramid.

Metabolic effects of insulin and glucagon. Diabetes mellitus.

The nutrition / fasting cycle.

Metabolism of adipose tissue. Obesity and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic alterations resulting from an imbalance in the intake of nutrients. Obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Primary and secondary undernutrition: Marasmus, Kwashiorkor and “Inedia”.

Food intolerance and food allergy.

Balanced nutrition in various ages and in different physiological conditions.

To take the food science exam, the student must have passed the General and Molecular Biochemistry exam. Furthermore, to better understand the program, it is suggested that the student has taken the exams of Food and Nutraceutics and Physiology.

D1-Knowledge and understanding. Students must be able to describe the importance of nutrition in human health, displaying one’s basic knowledge of micro and macronutrients, body composition and human metabolism. They must display their knowledge regarding both the cellular and general metabolism. These skills will be verified via an oral test.

D2-Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. The student must be able to use the acquired knowledge correctly and to apply it in such a way as to be able to identify the relationship between the quality of nutrition with the human body composition and metabolism. These skills will be verified via an oral test.

D3-Autonomy of judgment. Students will have to demonstrate that they can critically analyse and discuss the information acquired by using the appropriate terminology. They must be able to evaluate the role of micro- and macronutrients introduced with the diet and their correlation with the metabolism. Furthermore, they must be able to identify both the critical issues and the strengths with which nutrition can act. These skills will be verified via an oral test.

D4-Communication skills. Students must be able to clearly describe what they have learned during the course, with the appropriate terminology and give suitable examples.

D5-Learning skills. Students will have to demonstrate that they have developed good learning skills, which allow them to use the knowledge acquired during the Food Science course in the following courses planned in the study program. Students must be able to correctly use the study material provided by the professor and the in-depth material that they themself might acquire. The professor will help hone these skills, where possible, through the study of in-depth material which may also be in English.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

The course is organized as follows: Classroom lessons

Course books

Alimentazione, Nutrizione e Salute,  L. Debellis, A. Poli (EDISES Edizione 2019)

Nutrizione e dietologia, Aspetti clinici dell'alimentazione. A cura di Gianfranco Liguri 2015-Zanichelli

Manuale di Nutrizione Applicata, 5/ed. di Riccardi; Pacioni; Rivellese; Giacco - Idelson - Gnocchi 2020

Biochimica della Nutrizione, Leuzzi, Bellocco, Barreca, 2013-Zanichelli

Assessment

The exam consists of a written test with questions on the entire course program. The written test consists of a series of multiple-choice questions (you must indicate the only correct answer among those proposed) and open questions. For multiple choice questions, each correct answer is worth 1 point, each unanswered answer 0 points, and each incorrect answer is worth -0.25 points. For the open-ended questions, the rating will go from -0.25 to 1 depending on the appropriateness of the answer.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.