At the end of the course, the student will have to know and describe the basic notions of the physiology of the digestive system and food sciences; needs be able to compare and distinguish the biological role of nutrients and critically evaluate their integration in maintaining the homeostasis of the individual.
Frontal lessons.
Any Student with documented Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or with any special needs, shall reach out to the Lecturer(s) and to the dedicated SLD Representative in the Department before class begins, in order to liase and arrange the specific teaching methods and ensure proper achievement of the learning aims and outcomes.
Digestive system
• Anatomo-functional organization
• Mechanical events: chewing, swallowing, gastro-intestinal and biliary tract motility.
• Secretory events: salivary, gastric, hepatic and pancreatic.
• Digestion and absorption processes.
Organic and inorganic nutrients
• Glucids, lipids, proteins. Classification, chemical structure, metabolic use.
• The water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins: content in food, biological meaning, deficiency syndromes.
•.Minerals and trace minerals. Biological meaning.
• Water and electrolytes
Energy metabolism
• Caloric value of nutrients
• Direct and indirect calorimetry.
• Basal metabolism, food and exercise thermogenesis. Energy balance.
Body composition
• Body composition lean mass and fat mass
• Indirect determination methods: weight, body mass index (BMI), plicometry and impedance measurement.
Canella- Scienza della Nutrizione. EDI-ERMES
Silverthorn. Fisiologia Umana. Casa editrice Ambrosiana.
Sherwood - Fondamenti di Fisiologia Umana – Piccin
Stanfield - Fisiologia - EDISES
Vander - Fisiologia - Casa Editrice Ambrosiana
Battaglia-Noè. Elementi di fisiologia e scienza dell'alimentazione - Casa Editrice Mc Graw Hill
Ricevimento: By appointment upon agreement by email
Second semester approximately March.
The timetable for this course is available here: EasyAcademy
