After considering all the external nutrition related websites my students visited as part of assignments and activities across the weeks of a semester, I decided to put together a list as a hopefully handy document.   One goal of the introductory nutrition course is to expose and acquaint students with the many and varied credible web-based resources available to them - that they explore during the course, but can recall and refer to after the course.   These are integrated into weekly activities with specific questions that require accessing and engaging on the sites.   Many of the students are future health professionals so it is valuable, for example, to explore the  NIH vitamin and mineral factsheets  with quiz-based questions related to the Health Professional version of a fact sheet.   Or to visit the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and the American Cancer Society to access disease risk tools or skim the nutrition resources available at these websites.  Might just help steer them to evidence-based information instead of just Googling for answers.  🙂   I was surprised at the number and variety of websites once I consolidated them on the attached!   You likely have additional helpful sites - use the reply link below to share!    ... View more

Coffee arguably tops the list of the most consumed beverages in the U.S. and in many countries around the globe. The health benefits or risks of coffee consumption is a frequent question and concern from my intro nutrition students over the years. Observational studies have found that coffee consumption is linked with decreased risk of a variety of inflammatory related diseases including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and certain types of cancer – and even reduction in all-cause mortality. Research and guidelines echo that intakes of 3-5 cups per day (about 400 mg. caffeine) appear not only to be safe, but potentially beneficial. It is important to note that intake of children and teens should be significantly less, if consumed at all. In addition, moderation is warranted for individuals sensitive to the effects of caffeine. The 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans cites popular coffee based sweetened beverages as a significant contributing source of added sugars in the U.S diet. Here’s a recent review of interest entitled Coffee consumption, health benefits and side effects: a narrative review and update for dietitians and nutritionists. ... View more

Here's a recap with topics discussed and links from the informative and interactive Faculty Chat on September 22! Opened with introductions of attendees and authors.   Polled attendees regarding whether teaching face-to-face, online, or hybrid.   More than half teaching online this semester.   Class sizes ranged from under 50 to over 200. Update about DGA and Media Update as well as Achieve (Macmillan's next-generation online learning system!).  Demo of Achieve including a curated version of the nutrition course will be available after October 1 and Achieve will be live in December in time for Spring semester.   Macmillan will help….Here is a link to FAQs and to find your book representative to schedule a demonstration.   Nutrition for a Changing World Media Update will include updates across the textbook, slides, and digital content regarding the new DGA as well as updates in stats, figures, and research.  In the interim, instructors can access resources about the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) in both Launchpad and the Nutrition Community.   In Launchpad can locate DGA resources on your course page.   Scroll down past chapters and you’ll see “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025”.   The resources are hidden for students but can be accessed and downloaded by instructors for use and integration in to their courses.   Also available in the Nutrition Community.   Showed how to find Nutrition Community from the main Macmillan Teaching Learning page https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/macmillan-community/ct-p/college by clicking on the three lines in the upper left corner of the Macmillan Teaching Learning page and scrolling down to “Nutrition”.   Direct link here: https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/nutrition-community/gh-p/Nutrition-open-group    The authors post often with teaching tips, resources, and nutrition news.   Excellent resource with helpful tools and resources for nutrition faculty.   Regarding DGA resources in the Nutrition Community, can search “dietary guidelines” to locate recent post with resources.   These include two slide presentations that can be integrated into lecture slides or used alone – as well as a Voice Over PPTX.   Here is a link to post with DGA resources. Discussion around how instructors present the DGA in their classes.   Several faculty on the call shared their approaches as well as challenges.    Jamie teaches Chapter 2 that addresses the DGA (as well as food labeling) after covering other chapters in 1-9 (including the macro and micronutrients) so students have stronger foundation and context.  She would be happy to share her approach and syllabus with course schedule - email jamie.pope@vanderbilt.edu   Jamie shared a resource and assignment she uses where students explore food-based guidelines from around the globe and contrast to the US DGA.    http://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/food-dietary-guidelines/home/en/   Here is a link to where this assignment was discussed in a Nutrition Community post https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/nutrition-forum/food-based-guidelines-from-around-the-globe/m-p/12941 Steve introduced and shared ways to stay abreast of new nutrition research and news.   Link to post about sources of Nutrition News in Nutrition Community https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/nutrition-forum/nutrition-news-sources-for-faculty-and-students-where-do-you/m-p/15272 ... View more

A new fact sheet from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements entitled Dietary Supplements in the Time of COVID is now available with the summary statement "Data are insufficient to support recommendations for or against the use of any vitamin, mineral, herb or other botanical, fatty acid, or other dietary supplement ingredient to prevent or treat COVID-19."  It includes info on the following supplements that have received media and medical attention during the pandemic (along with 245 references and citations):   https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/COVID19-HealthProfessional/?nav=tw&fbclid=IwAR0p-su_hCHgp5VhKiYmeRw7p981Ramk1VOcc2Y76fn4om7-T_q5Ymuby0E  Might be a possible group project to have groups of students each review one these supplements using this info along with other research (and maybe what's been in the media) and then share overall findings with class? Andrographis Echinacea Elderberry (European Elder) Ginseng Melatonin N-acetylcysteine Omega-3 fatty acids Probiotics Vitamin C Vitamin D Zinc ... View more

Last winter semester I successfully used a team based learning (TBL) approach in all the classes that I taught. TBL is a structured form of small group learning that holds students accountable for pre-class preparation, and provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and concepts, to think critically, and make group decisions. This approach can be effectively implemented in both large and small classes, and numerous studies demonstrate that TBL achieves better learning outcomes than individual learning.  The key elements of TBL are: 1) Students complete an individual readiness assessment quiz at the start of class, 2) they then collaborate within their assigned groups to complete the same quiz with immediate feedback being provided by "scratch-off" answer cards (IF-AT), 3) Students then work in their groups to complete a significant and challenging exercise, 4) Group solutions/conclusions are then discussed by the class, 5) Frequent and formal assessment of individual team member contributions is essential, and 6) Mini-lectures are used to clarify misconceptions and concepts that students struggled with. While a whole class period can be devoted to these activities, I used this approach once during each class period to address specific concepts and problems. Examples of a few activities that I used are: 1) Propose a set of community-based public health strategies to reduce the risk of obesity in the population, 2) Diagram how an increase in protein intake will increase urea production, 3) Diagram how dietary lipids are delivered to the liver. More detailed information (including team formation and peer evaluation) can be found in the links below. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions: nizielss@gvsu.edu. Steve Team Based Learning Collaborative Team-based learning: design, facilitation and participation Team-based learning at Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching ... View more