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Food as Medicine: Food, Exercise and the Gut

Gain a deeper understanding of the connection between food, exercise and the gut, with this course for healthcare professionals.

536 enrolled on this course

The Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr), part of the Association of UK Dietitians (BDA)

This course has been been endorsed by the Sports Nutrition Exercise Register (SENr)/British Dietetic Association (BDA). Find out more.

Improve your knowledge of the gut and how it's affected by food and exercise

The gut is a complex part of the human body, and can be affected by many different factors. It’s vital healthcare professionals have a solid understanding of how the gut works, and what can exacerbate or improve gut problems.

On this course you will grow your understanding of gut health and learn current information on food, exercise and its effects on the gastrointestinal tract. You will explore subjects like exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome and nutritional intervention - leaving the course with an improved understanding that you can apply in your practice.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 12 seconds RICARDO COSTA: G’day. I’m Dr. Ricardo Costa from Monash University Department of Nutrition Dietetics. And I’m in extremes physiology researcher. Now, if you work with recreational or elite-level athletes, and these athletes are coming to you with problems in regards to gastrointestinal discomfort or symptoms, then this is the course for you. We’re a leading international research team looking into exercise gastroenterology, all the way through to the etiological, pathological mechanisms through to prevention and management strategies. In this course, we’ll take you through the whole journey. We’ll start is start off with what’s causing the problem, what exacerbates it, and what we can do about it.

Skip to 0 minutes and 54 seconds And more importantly, there’s a lot of new research coming from our lab, teaching people how to prevent and manage symptoms and health implications associated with the gut disturbances that exercise causes. So if you’re a professional working with athletes, whether it be at recreational level, junior level, all the way to elite level, this course is for you. And we’ll be teaching you novel, innovative, and new information that you won’t have access to anywhere else besides here at Monash University.

What topics will you cover?

  • The gastrointestinal tract
  • Exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome
  • Exacerbators
  • Nutritional intervention and dietary modification
  • Gut training

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Describe the different gastrointestinal symptoms experienced by individuals participating in sport and exercise, including the degree of incidence and severity.
  • Explain the concept of exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome, and the associated acute and chronic health implication.
  • Describe the key factors that exacerbate exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome.
  • Summarise the current evidence-based prevention and management strategies for exercise-associated gastrointestinal perturbations and symptoms.
  • Evaluate the efficacy of these prevention and management strategies.

Who is the course for?

Places in this course are limited to 100, so please register early to avoid disappointment.

This course is designed for healthcare professionals, specifically sports physicians and dietitians. It assumes knowledge of science, medicine and healthcare practice.

Who has recognised this course?

This course is recognised by:

  • Sports Nutrition Exercise Register (SENr)/British Dietetic Association (BDA): endorsement applies only to the educational content of the learning activity.

If you have any questions on the course, its accreditation/endorsement or how it may relate to your professional healthcare practice we encourage you to email your questions to base.nutrition@monash.edu


Who will you learn with?

Ricardo is a lecturer, researcher, practitioner and consultant in Extremes Physiology and Sports Dietetics, based at Monash University, with specialisation in exercise gastroenterology.

Who developed the course?

Monash University

Monash University is one of Australia’s leading universities, ranked in the world’s top 1% by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It was established in Melbourne in 1958.

  • Established

    1958
  • Location

    Melbourne, Australia
  • World ranking

    Top 60Source: QS World University Rankings 2021

Endorsers and supporters

endorsed by

The Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr), part of the Association of UK Dietitians (BDA)

What's included?

This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.

  • Learn best practices from experts
  • Learn from the experience of other health professionals
  • Fit learning around your schedule with unlimited access
  • Get evidence of learning outcomes and CPD hours
  • Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you're eligible
  • Download and print your Certificate of Achievement anytime

Still want to know more? Check out our FAQs

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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Get a taste of this course

Find out what this course is like by previewing some of the course steps before you join:

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