what's applied nutrition?

What is Applied Nutrition? Combining Health, Nutrition, & Culinary Arts

Consumers have become more health conscious over the past few decades. They want to know what is going into the foods they are eating. They want to know the vitamins, nutrients, carbs, calories, proteins and fats they are consuming. All of this information comes from the marriage of health information, nutrition science, and the culinary arts.

That is applied nutrition, and it’s pretty cool.

The Health-Conscious Approach to Food

Food is the fuel that sustains the human body. The stomach and intestines break food down into usable components that the body uses for all its functions. Here are a few examples:

  • Vitamin C is necessary for brain health, protection against free radicals, and producing collagen for the skin and bones.
  • Protein is essential for maintaining blood pressure, transferring chemical messages into and out of cells, providing elasticity in connective tissues, and providing structural integrity to cell walls, among many other functions.
  • Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) helps produce red blood cells and strands of DNA, along with being a critical component of oxygen transportation and use in the cells of the brain and nerves.
  • Flavonoids, like catechins and anthocyanidins, offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. They also help improve the cardiovascular system and supports the nervous system.

The trick is finding the right balance between food intake and proper nutrition. The body can metabolize almost all the nutrients found in food ingredients. However, the body requires certain nutrients to run at an optimal level. If a person does not eat a range of those nutrients, in the right proportions, the body will start having problems.

Balancing all these nutritional differences shows the marriage of health, nutrition, and the culinary arts.

 A doctor can recommend a managed carbohydrate diet for a diabetic patient. A nutritionist can recommend a diet with X amount of carbohydrates. But, the person who is designing the menu—the culinary nutritionist—is the one who comes up with the right combination of foods to meet those guidelines.

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Applied Nutrition in Real Life

The head of culinary services at a hospital is someone who needs to have the expertise of applied nutrition. A decent size hospital can have hundreds of patients within its confines on any given day. The kitchen needs to provide meals to all of those patients, many with different dietary needs. A diabetic needs to control carbohydrate levels. A heart patient doesn't need too much sodium. Someone recovering from surgery may have specific nutritional needs.

Training in applied nutrition is what makes it possible. Students in applied nutrition learn a range of skills that they can apply in a culinary setting to meet nutritional guidelines.

  • They learn about dietary conditions and therapies.
  • They learn about nutritional analysis and how to modify recipes.
  • They learn about alternative ways to cook and bake foods to change their nutritional profiles.
  • They learn how to plan and develop menus with nutrition in mind.
  • They learn how to source ingredients and ensure their integrity.

In the hospital kitchen setting, all those skills come into play. The head of culinary services is in charge of creating menus that can accommodate the nutritional needs of hundreds of patients. That person determines which foods need to be sourced and how they will be cooked or baked. They also need to know how to plate and supply the food to all of those patients, always keeping their nutritional needs in mind.

Get Your Education in Applied Nutrition!

Are you interested in learning more about applied nutrition? Contact ECPI University’s College of the Culinary Arts today to learn more about our Culinary Arts & Applied Nutrition Associate Degree. You can earn this degree in as little as 1.5 years using our innovative year-round schedule. Take your culinary chops to the next level and give us a call today. It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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