My experience with receiving my certification in Plant Based Nutrition via eCornell’s Nutrition Studies Certificate Program.
If you’ve been following along on Instagram you might have seen that I recently became certified in Plant-Based Nutrition!
I started the coursework in the thick of quarantine and finished just as summer kicked off.
If you’ve been around here a while you know I have a *general* idea of what’s good for us.
Mostly, I know what type of foods fuel me and make me feel my best.
Then I like to photograph them and share them with you.
I usually keep my nutrition talk to a minimum because I’m a medical professional or a licensed nutritionist or a licensed anything.
I was so excited to take the Plant Based Nutrition eCornell Certificate Program to ground some of my excitement about a whole foods plant-based diet in science and fact.
The course reinforced a lot of what I already intuitively knew about plants, grounding that knowledge in scientific research.
I’ve provided some information on my experience below outlined in a Q&A fashion for anyone also interested in learning more about the course!
What’s the program?
The course was created by eCornell and the Center for Nutrition Studies with talks from multiple experts in the field.
The lectures help you understand the importance of diet and nutrition for your life and provides perspective on why following a plant-based diet is ideal for health and well being, including the mitigation and reversal of disease.
The course is comprised of three two-week classes that allow you to learn from and engage with online material.
The foundation of the program is based on Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s lectures and extensive experience!
Who is Dr. T. Colin Campbell?
Well, he has participated in the development of national and international nutrition policy, authored 300+ research papers, and been awarded 70+ grant-years of peer-reviewed research funding!
He also co-authored the worldwide bestselling book The China Study and authored the New York Times bestsellers Whole and The Low-Carb Fraud.
You might have seen him in Forks Over Knives, Eating You Alive, Food Matters, and PlantPure Nation– no big deal.
To this day he shares evidence-based information on health and nutrition and has delivered hundreds of lectures worldwide!
What’s the coursework like?
The coursework is broken into three classes: Nutrition & Society, Diseases of Affluence, and Plant-Based in Practice.
In the Nutrition & Society course we discussed the troubled state of health in America, and identifies how scientific theories take shape, and differentiate between reductionist and “wholistic” perspectives in nutrition.
In the Diseases of Affluence course we talked about the China Project, the most comprehensive study of diet, lifestyle, and disease ever conducted! We looked at diet’s crucial link to chronic diseases worldwide, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
In the Plant-Based in Practice course, we focused on personal behavior and the tools that support positive lifestyle change. We analyzed several popular diets and compare them to a whole food, plant-based diet. We also discussed the role plant-based nutrition plays in athletic performance.
What did I learn?
- The science behind what it means to maintain a plant-based diet
- The role plant-based nutrition plays in managing and motivating chronic disease
- How to create health wholesome Whole Foods plant based meals
- The impact the food and farming industry has on our environment
- Trendy diets! Like gluten-free, low-carb, paleo, vegetarian, keto, vegan-keto, and what these offer us.
- How media and marketing influences our daily dietary decisions
- Macronutrient breakdown and plant-based protein consumption for an athletic lifestyle
My takeaways:
I really enjoyed deepening my knowledge about why being plant-based is so important in this comprehensive 6-week course
It’s definitely applicable to my every day life as a content creator, consumer, and foodie.
I think the discussions and lectures will compliment and enhance what I already know to be true.
And learning has empowered me to speak more intelligently about plant-based nutrition on this platform and the blog!
My favorite part is learning the steps for practical application in your life.
I love that it will inspire more informed conversations between friends and family.
More resources:
The course is designed for anyone looking to improve your personal health, nutrition skills, and education on a Whole Foods plant based diet!
I highly recommend it whether you check it out for a career change, your own health, or just to learn something new.
Check out Nutrition Studies for more info and leave me a comment or a DM if have any questions about what the course entails!
Thanks for the summary, I am starting this course so enjoyed your insight! Glad you feel it enhanced your nutrition knowledge.