Kaitlin Kelsch

Scientific Foundations of Human Nutrition Reflection

Make connections between what you studied in this nutrition course with what youve learned in
other courses at SLCC or before. Make specific references to your work in this class and in the other
courses. How did what you learn in the other courses enhance what you learned in nutrition, and vice
versa?

One of the biggest connections that I made between courses involves the connection between diet and
our overall well-being. In my third semester of school I ended up taking an Intro to Humanities course
and for one of the major units that we did, we read all sorts of articles and short works that all talked
about the topic of happiness - what it means to be happy, how you obtain happiness, and the question
of whether or not happiness an impossible goal or it is firmly within the reach of every human being?
Needless to say, I believe that happiness is definitely possible to obtain and now, after having completed
this course, I am now a firm believer that diet has the potential to affect things such as your intelligence,
mood, emotions, and even the length and the quality of your life.

In particular, I think the concept of The Blue Zones, (briefly touched upon in Chapter 20) is what really
started to make me look at the connection between diet and happiness in a whole new light. If you are
unfamiliar with the concept of The Blue Zones, they are five geographic areas throughout the world in
which he inhabitants of these zones tend to live to be 100+ (Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Icaria,
Greece; Loma Linda, California; and Nicoya, Costa Rica). I had heard of the concept of The Blue Zones
before in a TED talk but back then I wasnt nearly as interested in nutrition as I am now and, honestly,
after I watched the talk I just kind of dumped it out of my mind. Okay, so how is learning about the
dietary and lifestyle patterns of old people going to help me? I thought back then. Little did I know that
the concept of The Blue Zones would come back to hit me, big time.

What The Blue Zones really demonstrate to me, though, is just how interconnected the different parts
of health are. Not only in the TED talk did the speaker go into detail on the common factors of their diet
(many of the people in these areas are moderate drinkers, for instance, and have plant-based diets), but
also common environmental and social factors, as well, such as the fact that they spend a lot of time
with friends and relatives and they tend to keep themselves busy up until old age with lots of chores.
You cant focus on just one aspect of health without focusing on all the rest, at least in some capacity.
Just as how I learned in a meditation class I once took that everything is connected the people, the
rocks, the trees, the sky, the animals - the fundamental building blocks of health (mental, physical,
social, environmental, spiritual, and emotional) are no exception.
Reflect on how you thought about nutrition before you took this course and how you think about it
now that the course is over. Have any of your assumptions or understandings changed? Why? What
assignments/activities/readings were influential in this process? How will you approach (course topic)
differently in the future?

Before the course, I was getting really interested in nutrition and had already spent a considerable
amount of time researching it (otherwise I wouldnt have taken this course or have considered being a
vegan) but I thought that most of what I could ever possibly learn about nutrition had already been
tapped out. I figured that I would take this class as a refresher course of all I learned, but to be honest I
didnt expect to learn anything new. Oh, how wrong I was! As it turns out, the size and scope of
nutrition and nutrition research is much more wide and large than I couldve ever thought!

I think this newfound appreciation for nutrition and diet came gradually as I was learning more about
the class, but the main unit that really brought the concept home for me was the section in which were
learning about all the various vitamins and minerals. Call me paranoid or irrational, but after looking at
all the various processes that keep your body alive and all the nutrients it needs to do so, its a wonder
that forgetting to get your RDA for something that you would think to be so inconsequential as zinc, for
instance, doesnt lead you to be dead 24 hours later. In other words, you HAVE to make sure that you
are getting everything that you need out of your diet otherwise this will lead to detrimental and even
catastrophic consequences for you later on. And while I dont think its wise to focus so much on diet
that youre constantly worried about slipping up or you become orthorexic, I do now believe that diet is
SO IMPORTANT for every single aspect of our lives that we, as Americans, should take a great deal more
time out of our lives to learn about nutrition than we actually do.

Other concepts that I learned that helped me to realize how cool and important nutrition can be are the
concepts of phytochemicals and probiotics. Imagine that! Thousands of chemicals (so many that we
havent identified even a fraction of them) produced in fruits and vegetables that have near-miraculous
benefits on health, some with the power to aid in cardiovascular disease, others to aid in . Regarding
probiotics, thousands and thousands of bacteria both good for you and bad for you live in and thrive off
the environment in our gut. You can decrease the growth of the bad bacteria and help the good
bacteria grow just by eating fermented foods like cheese, yogurt, and pickles! Its astounding to me and
I hope to show the others around me just how astounding it can be for them, too!

Overall, I am just supremely happy that I was able to take this course. It kind of helped to rekindle an
interest in me that, looking back, I think was present all along. If this is any sort of an indication of how
utterly fascinating and encouraging this course was for me, I have now decided to add nutritionist and
food scientist to my list of possible careers. Maybe Ill even get involved in my community and put in
volunteer hours at a pantry or a community garden, as well. I cannot thank this course enough for all
that it has given me and I am sure that this will remain a crucial keystone in my education and life for
years and even decades to come.