Your learning experience with ADL will not only depend on the quality of the course, but also the quality of the person teaching it. This course is taught by Juliette Harris and your course fee includes unlimited tutorial support throughout. Here are her credentials:
 Juliette Harris
 BSc Hons Biology (University of Sussex)
Juliette has over 10 years experience in teaching and private tutoring. As an undergraduate, she contributed to published research on the behaviour of an endangered bat species, though her main areas of interest and specialisation are genetics and cellular biology. After 7 months in the rainforests & reefs of Central America, Juliette began her teaching career at prestigious private school, Brighton College. She soon returned to Central America, heading up a field-trip for A-level students. She has been a private tutor & exam coach to a range of students with very diverse backgrounds, aptitudes and expectations. More recently, Juliette has enjoyed working with adults with learning difficulties and enormous barriers to education. Juliette currently splits her time between England and Bulgaria, where she works as a teacher.
Â
Excerpt from the Course
WHAT IS THERAPEUTIC NUTRITION?
Therapeutic nutrition is the provision of nutrients to maintain and/ or restore optimal nutrition and health. Therapeutic diets may be required as therapy for a disease for example coeliac disease; to treat malnutrition arising from low energy and nutrient intakes; or due to increased energy and nutrient needs.
WHERE IS IT APPLIED?
A therapeutic diet may be provided orally (through eating and drinking), enterally (through a tube directly into the gastrointestinal tract or parenterally through the veins of the circulatory system.
Oral nutrition
Oral nutrition is interpreted as food or other nutrients taken by mouth. Oral nutrition support is the first step for who are suffering from weight loss or are unable to eat and drink enough to meet their energy and nutrient requirements. Oral nutrition support is provided for people who are able to swallow safely and have a functioning digestive system. The overall aim of oral nutrition support is to provide a balanced diet with enough protein, fluid and macronutrients to meet the patient’s nutritional needs and help improve clinical outcomes.Â
Oral nutrition support must respond to the specific needs of an individual. For example, people suffering from nausea and vomiting, swallowing difficulties, weight loss or reduced appetite will each require different forms of oral nutrition support.
Nausea and vomiting
Nausea and vomiting are symptoms of an underlying disease and not a specific illness. Nausea is the sensation that the stomach wants to empty itself, while vomiting (also called emesis), is the act of forcible emptying of the stomach. There are many causes of nausea and vomiting. For example, the symptoms may result from medications and medical treatments e.g. chemotherapy, pregnancy, mechanical obstruction of the bowel and acute gastritis which can include food poisoning, gastric flu and infections.
It is important that people are aware of what is causing their nausea and vomiting and it is important for them to receive medical advice especially if symptoms persist or are associated with pain, fever or vomiting blood.
Where patients have experienced vomiting it is important to give the stomach time to rest while still avoiding dehydration. Clear fluids should be attempted for the first 24 hours of an illness and then the diet should be advanced as tolerated. Clear fluids are easy for the stomach to absorb and include water, sports drinks, jelly, ice lollys and clear soups.
When solid foods are tolerated nausea may be helped by: Â
- Eating small meals and snacks throughout the day and avoiding eating large meals.
- Not eating fried foods, spicy foods or foods with strong odors.
- Choosing plain foods such as toast, crackers, salty snacks and ginger flavored drinks and foods.Â
- Prescription medications can also help control the nausea or vomiting.
Swallowing problems
Chewing and swallowing problems (also called dysphagia) can result from strokes, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and dementia. The cause of swallowing difficulties must always be investigated by a doctor. If food and liquid cannot be swallowed safely it may be aspirated or drawn into the lungs. As the airways become blocked, the person will begin to choke and this choking fit may be fatal for frail, elderly people especially. The aspiration of food and fluid into the lungs can also cause aspiration pneumonia.
Once the cause of swallowing difficulties has been investigated, people may be advised to follow a specific diet. Examples include a minced diet where all food is minced for easier chewing or swallowing or a pureed diet, where a blender or food processor to puree foods to the consistency of infant food, while soft and smooth foods, such as applesauce, certain puddings and eggs can be served in their normal form. Thickened fluids may be recommended as a remedy to chewing and swallowing problems. Artificial food thickeners are available from the pharmacy while natural thickeners include tapioca, flour and instant potato flakes.
Weight loss and reduced appetite
Unintentional weight loss is a decrease in body weight that is not voluntary. In other words, the person did not try to loss the weight by dieting or exercising. There are many causes of unintentional weight loss. Examples include, cancer, depression, drugs such as chemotherapy drugs, Eating disorders, loss of appetite and malnutrition. Painful mouth ulcers or a loss of teeth may also prevent someone from eating normally and result in weight loss in that person.
Weight loss and poor oral intake can have a serious impact on a person’s clinical outcome following a surgical procedure, thus resulting in reduced immune function, poor wound healing and potentially longer hospital stays.
Here are some tips to help people with poor appetite and weight loss, you may think of others –
- Try to eat small and frequent meals and snacks, for example, every 2 hours. Suitable snacks include cheese and crackers, sandwiches, savoury biscuits, ready made desserts such as yoghurt, rice pudding and crème caramel.
- Take advantage of times when you do feel well, and have a larger meal then. Many people have a better appetite first thing in the morning, when they are well rested.
- If your doctor allows, have a small glass of wine or beer during a meal. It may help to stimulate your appetite
- During meals, sip only small amounts because drinking may make you feel full. If you want to have more than just a small amount to drink, have it 30-60 minutes before or after a meal.
- Fortify foods e.g. with milk powder and foods high in fats and sugars.
Nutritional Supplement
Nutritional supplements are powders or drinks that contain protein and energy, vitamins and minerals. They help to increase intake of protein and calories in people and can be taken as a supplement when food intake is poor, a way to stimulate a poor appetite and promote weight gain, and as a sole source of nutrition for people who cannot eat. Some countries define dietary supplements as foods, while in others they are defined as drugs. Examples include Ensure, Fortisip and build-up drinks which are milk based supplements and Enlive, Fortijuice and Provide Extra which are fruit juice supplements
Artificial Nutrition
Artificial nutrition includes Enteral nutrition (tube feeding), or parenteral nutrition (nutrients delivered into the body into a vein in the arm or chest). Artificial nutrition becomes necessary when a person loses the ability to receive, desire, or require nutrition or hydration by natural means.
Enteral nutrition
Enteral nutrition is used where a patient’s digestive system is function well, however they may be unable to eat or can only eat food in quantities that are not enough to sustain them.
To do this food is fed in a liquid form through a tube that may be used in one of two ways:
- For short term uses, a nasogastric tube is inserted down the nose, throat and into the stomach.
- For longer term enteral feeding (and for patients who cannot or will not tolerate a nasogastric tube), a tube is inserted into the stomach or small intestine through an opening known as a stoma (Figure 1). The stoma is made on the abdomen.o
You are what you eat and this has never been more important than in today’s food diverse society.  This ebook provides an introduction to the fundamentals of nutrition and covers over thirty different nutrition related illnesses.
by the Staff of ACS Distance Learning
Nutritional Therapy eBook course online. It’s amazing how little people know about their bodies and yet still expect them to function in an energetic and efficient manner. We eat all sorts of rubbish, but you wouldn’t put the wrong fuel in your car and still expect it to drive smoothly. This e-book will give you a great overview of the human nutrition industry in all its facets.
Nutrition is a potent component in human health, and can be a valuable contributor toward improving recovery from injury or illness. As such, nutrition can be used therapeutically to support recovery from a range of health issues.
Â
Studies have shown how good nutrition promotes a healthy immune system preventing infections, aids tissue growth and replacement and supports the healthy functioning of organs such as the heart and pancreas. Conversely, inadequate intakes of nutrients, or depleted levels of nutrients in the body puts a person at risk of malnutrition. This in turn is associated with problems such as reduced immunity, poor wound healing and weakened response to recovery from disease or surgery – problems that increase the length of hospital admissions and duration/prognosis of a disease or illness and can also increase the risk of mortality.
The contribution of nutrition to recovery must be put into perspective though. The human body is complex; and there are many different factors that can affect our wellbeing. These include mental health, physical health, genetic predisposition, age, previous injury, environmental influences and daily activity; as well as what you eat.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONÂ
- Scope & nature of therapeutic nutrition
- How does therapeutic nutrition differ to normal nutrition?
- Applications of a therapeutic diet
- Nutrition in the recovery from malnutrition
- Nutrition in the recovery from infections
- Nutrition in the treatment of chronic conditions
- Nutrition in the rehabilitation of patients following a traumatic event
- Interpreting nutritional advice
- Validity of research
CHAPTER 2 INTERACTIONS WITH NUTRITION
- What is health?
- Age
- Gender
- Physical activity
- Genetic predisposition
- Environmental influences on health
- Effect of diet on physical and mental health
- Mental health
CHAPTER 3 HOW YOU EAT
- Methods of providing nutritional support
- Oral nutrition support
- Modified consistency foods
- Soft foods
- Pureed foods
- Thickened liquids
- Food fortification
- Oral nutritional supplements
- Oral nutrition and the hospitalized patient
- Delivering nutrition through a feeding tube
- Parenteral nutrition
CHAPTER 4 A – Z OF PROBLEMS AND THE THERAPEUTIC RESPONSE
- Part of the body – the brain
- Mental illness
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Dietary management
- Overeating
- Undereating
- Swallowing difficulties
- Additional problems affecting the mouth
- Wired jaw
- Taste
- Gastritis and stomach ulcers
- Hypochlorhydia
- Part of body – the liver
- Part of the body – the heart
- Part of the body – the pancreas
- Diabetes
- Part of body- the kidneys
- Part of body – the intestine
- Diarrhoea
- Constipation
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Diverticulitis
- Coeliac disease
- Part of the body – muscles and bone
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- Part of the body – the skin
- Acne
- EczemaÂ
This course has been endorsed by TQUK. Endorsement of our courses by TQUK sets them apart from other vocational learning programmes and is an achievement to be proud of. It further demonstrates that we are an efficient academy with excellent courses and tutorial support. It also means that potential and existing students, employers and universities can be sure of the true value of the learning we provide.
Nutritional Therapy