A must-have course for students serious about clinical herbalism. As an introduction to Functional Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Kyla Helm, MD leads students through an 8-week deep-dive course on the different roles that food has on the health of our body.
[ Taught by Kyla Helm, MD. ] *This is an 8-week course. Registration will remain open until October 2nd, 2023. You do not have to be in our area to take this course – all you need is an internet connection!
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Food and Health.
Seems simple, but is it…really?
In this 8-week course, we will be exploring FOOD. We will start to peel apart the different roles that food has on the health of our body. When we view food as an energy source, as information to our DNA, and as medicine (rather than something to fill our stomachs,) it will help to open the doors to be able to further explore the results of making wise or poor decisions about food.
We will look at modern agricultural practices and how this effect our food even before we make our first food choice. Organic, Raw, Paleo, Adkins, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Super Foods, Low Fat, Low Carb and the list goes on and on… We will discuss basic tenets that many of these diets have in common, and develop some general lifestyle recommendations to help guide our food choices.
We will examine what the literature is saying about controversial topics like genetically modified foods, High Fructose Corn Syrup versus Sugar, artificial sweeteners, and the link diet has to specific diseases such as ADD/ADHD, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia.
We will look at common micronutrient deficiencies plaguing the US now and their link to various diseases.
You will learn about certain physical findings and simple lab tests that could give us a clue about our nutritional status.
Food has the ability to cause disease or to cure disease. Opening our eyes to the extraordinary effect food can have on our lives will empower us to start the journey towards better health for ourselves and our families.
Clinical Nutrition covers 20 hours of class time. In this 8-week course we will cover:
Topics Include:
- Introduction to functional medicine & clinical nutrition
- Macronutrients: carbs, fats, proteins and fiber
- Sugar, the development of Metabolic syndrome and Diabetes
- Phytonutrients
- Myths in Nutrition
- Epigenetics
- Food Pyramid-conventional vs functional nutrition
- Basic Tenets of Health Eating (The Big Picture)
- Soil Ecology & Modern Agriculture
- The roles of Magnesium
- Water & Other Beneficial Drinks
- Soda and High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Artificial sweeteners
- Overview of Weight Gain (inability to lose weight)
The Clinical Nutrition 1 course will satisfy the Nutritional requirement in the Clinical Herbalist and Family Herbalist programs. Botanical Functional Medicine will follow in January 2024. Clinical Nutrition is recommended as an introduction to the 12-week Botanical Functional Medicine course.
