Learn to advise people on their Food and Nutritional Needs
Recent research in nutrition and health services indicates there is an increasing need for counsellors to have specialist knowledge in the area of nutrition, weight loss and children's nutrition whilst still maintaining professional counselling skills and practice.
Health promotion in education is also another huge development area and requires people who know the facts about nutrition and also understand the importance of counselling.
This course is suitable for:
- People seeking to develop counselling skills to use in conjunction with nutritional advice.
- People inspired to educate people about improving health through nutrition.
- Counsellors, fitness instructors, health professionals or life coaches looking to broaden and develop their skills.
- People with a passion for wellbeing.
Modules
Note that each module in the Advanced Certificate in Nutritional Counselling is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
WHAT'S IN THE COURSE MODULES?
Human Nutrition I
The nine lessons are as follows:
- Introduction to Nutrition
- The Digestive System
- Absorption & Enzymes
- Energy Value and Foods
- Carbohydrates and Fats
- Proteins
- Vitamins and Minerals
- Water
- Nutrient Disorders
Human Nutrition II
There are eight lessons is as outlined below:‑
- Cooking And Its Affect On Nutrition
- Food Processing And Its Affect On Nutrition
- Recommended Daily Intake Of Nutrients
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Planning A Balanced Diet
- Assessing Nutritional Status And Needs
- Timing Of Meals, And Needs For Special Groups
Human Nutrition III
This course is divided into eight lessons as follows:.
- Problems With Eating
- Dental Problems
- Fibre and Bowel Diseases
- Different Ways of Eating
- Food Toxicity A
- Food Toxicity B
- Detoxification/Body Cleansing
- Consulting/Giving Advice
Life Coaching
This course is approved by the Association of Coaching in the UK and qualifies you yo join that professional body.
- Introduction: Nature & scope of life coaching
- Individual perceptions
- A well-balanced life
- Coaching processes
- Coaching skills
- Coaching & physical well-being
- Coaching & psychological well-being
- Coaching success
- Goal-setting
- Review and adjustment
Popular Electives
Children's Nutrition
There are 10 lessons in this module as follows:
- Introduction to Child Nutrition
- Nutrition for Pre-Pregnancy
- Nutrition in Pregnancy
- Nutrition in Infants
- Nutrition in Childhood
- Nutritional Concerns
- Healthy Eating Behaviours
- Issues in Child Nutrition
- Childhood Obesity
- Diet Plans
Sports Nutrition
There are 9 lessons as follows:
- Introduction to Human and Sports Nutrition
- Energy
- Energy in the Athlete’s Body
- The Training Diet
- The Competition Diet
- Fluids
- The Athlete’s Body Composition
- Weight Management
- Training for Size and the Use of Sports Supplements
Nutrition for Weight Loss
There are nine lessons in this course as follows:
- Understanding Obesity -Causes, genetics, lifestyle, exercise, eating habits, affect of pregnancy, medical conditions, diseases, water, changes at different stages of life (adolescence, menopause, etc). Evaluation of Weight status & Body Composition
- Nutrition Basics: revision of the basics, discussion of food sources, organic/inorganic, not just what you eat but how and when you eat, healthy digestion...
- Diets - Fads, Fiction and Fact: A review of a range of popular approaches to Weight Control – Starvation, Ketogenic Diets, Dieting. Crash diets, supplements, cleansing/elimination diets, Low carb diets, sweeteners, fat substitutes; Dangers
- Preventing Obesity
- Treating Obesity
- Modifying Eating Behaviour
- Restricting Calorie Intake
- Medical Conditions: Hormones, Drugs, Eating Disorders
- Planning a Diet
Introduction to Understanding Food and Nutrition
In the main, ingredients used in cooking are derived from living things. This includes meat, eggs, and dairy products derived from animals and vegetables, fruits, grains and nuts come from plants and mushrooms and the yeast derived from fungi. In the process of cooking we also utilise water and minerals such as salt.
Going back in time the food we originally consumed was obtained by hunting and gathering and then over time to basic farming and fishing processes. While today’s farming processes are more complicated utilising intensive farming and industrial processes.
The food we eat is composed of nutrients - proteins, carbohydrates and fats in addition to water and minerals. Cooking involves a manipulation of the chemical properties of these molecules. We shall now look at these nutrients in more detail but please note that nutritional information is covered in greater depth in other courses.
Protein
Protein serves a number of essential functions in the human body. It is needed to build and repair muscles, to make hair and skin, fight against infections and to carry oxygen in our blood. Proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids. There are twenty different amino acids, and while our body can make some of them, there are eight amino acids that our body can't make.
These are called essential amino acids and the only way we can get them is through the food we eat. It is important to eat a variety of protein foods every day to make sure your body gets all of the essential amino acids. Protein itself is derived from edible animal material such as from muscle, offal (internal organs), milk and eggs.
These animal sources are all good sources of protein that have all eight essential amino acids. Protein is also found in smaller amounts in plant foods such as legumes (beans and peas) and in nuts and seeds. These plant sources can lack some of the essential amino acids and it is therefore important for vegetarians to eat a good variety of plant foods to ensure they get all the amino acids the body needs. Cooking denatures protein which means that it changes the structure of protein. In doing so the taste and acceptability of the product is increased e.g. a cooked egg tastes better than a raw egg and is more appealing.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide our bodies with the most efficient source of energy. Carbohydrates come in two forms - starches (also named complex carbohydrates) and sugars (simple sugars). Starches are found in foods such bread, rice, pasta, cereals and potatoes, while sugars are found in fruit and vegetables and also in foods such as sweets, soft drinks and cakes. Carbohydrates are an essential part of a healthy diet and should make up 50% of our daily calorie intake. When planning meals we must therefore ensure adequate intakes. The majority should come from complex carbohydrates, preferably the wholemeal varieties, as well as a large intake of fruit and vegetables.
Fats
Fats are found in most foods, it is either present in foods from the beginning (such as in meat and cheese), or it's been added in cooking. Fat supplies essential nutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids (EFAs) which are thought to have a positive effect on heart health and the immune system. Fat can itself be divided into two main groups - saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fat is generally solid at room temperature and can usually only be found in animal sources such as in butter, hard margarine, cheese, whole milk and anything that contains these ingredients like cakes, biscuits, chocolate and pastries Fat is an essential component of good cooking helping the ingredients in food, come together for texture, and flavour.
You Will also Learn about Counselling
The aim of counselling is to provide the client with a more satisfying experience of life. Everyone has different needs, so counselling can be concerned with many different aspects of a person’s life.
The role of the counsellor is to facilitate the person’s resolution of these issues, whilst respect their values, personal resources, culture and capacity for choice. Counselling can provide people with a regular time and space to talk about their problems and explore difficult feelings in a confidential and dependable environment.
Counsellors do not usually offer advice, but instead give insight into the client’s feelings and behaviour and help the client change their behaviour if necessary. They do this by listening to what the client has to say and commenting on it from a professional perspective. Counselling covers a wide spectrum from the highly trained counsellor to some one who uses counselling skills as part of their role, for example, a nurse or teacher.
Online and Telephone Counselling
In today's world, counselling increasingly involves interaction with client via telephone or online.
Telephone and online/email/chat counselling are not done face-to-face, but will have many things in common with face to face counselling.
Telephone and email support may be appropriate for situations when a client wants to –
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Discuss ways of solving a problem.
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Find the energy to address a problem.
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Understand the psychological aspects of a situation better.
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Discuss ways to modify the client’s behaviour.
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Discuss ways to modify the behaviour of others in certain situations.
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Generate new ideas or gain fresh perspectives.
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Access specialist knowledge and guidance.
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Build on progress already made in face to face sessions with a counsellor.
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