The course explained how determining optimized food intake is a complex process and though nutritionists may figure the role of each micro nutrient, a healthy eating habit would require to consume a variety of natural food sources. Therefore, in quite basic terms the course offers generic advice in a series of short videos on balancing food varieties, avoiding processed foods, etc. The course therefore simply reaffirms what has been generally known to the population about good eating habits while making a strong case for avoiding processed foods and switching to home based cooking focused on quality and quantity. Personally, I would have liked more scientific data, regional eating habits and their relation to obesity,etc, problems of adulteration, choosing foods based on local climatic conditions, etc. Nonetheless, it was a good course and I had fun. Looking forward to more!

Overall, I found this course to be a good refresher given my prior knowledge / skill base. I could see this course being very good for absolute beginners with little to no knowledge of nutritional concepts or cooking. I personally was looking for more advanced / in-depth information about nutritional science in order to better equip me to be a knowledgeable resource for my clients (with whom I primarily work around health / wellness related issues). Additionally, the cooking ideas / concepts were all practices that I already utilize in my own kitchen / feeding my own family. One section that I did find incredibly helpful was the discussion about the different types of fats.

As it stands, I would definitely recommend this course to a client, friend, or family member starting out at a beginner's level (like my fiance) or anyone who needs a refresher.

The first two weeks contained very basic information about nutrition which was educational and presented in an organized and helpful way. The second two weeks focused on building a "healthy" meal. The final week is a cooking course with recipes and cooking demos. The information in the last three weeks was organized well but did not seem to be based on varied resources and scientific studies but rather on the information Michael Pollan presents in his books. The class would have greatly benefited from a nutrition or medical professional who could give scientific insight.

Overall this course would be helpful for people with little to no knowledge of food or nutrition but does not explore the vast amount of research the covers how our bodies process and react to foods and how those foods can impact our health and major chronic diseases.

I heard a lot of "party line" statements and few truly scientific references. There was the dumming down comment about what "average people can pronounce". Well for of all "average people say "prah sessed" not "PRO sessed". Second that's just stupid. What other people can or cannot pronounce has nothing to do with health. In fact, learning how to pronounce the ingredients and looking up what they are is far more helpful. THAT would help people to learn what's in their food and how manufacturers hide things in the food. I was disappointed with the lack scientific reference and the arrogance of certainty presented. It really felt like a long commercial put on by the "vegetable lobby". There were some good tips but they were overshadowed by the emphasis on the non-scientific ones.

the course has a great start and gives you intro about proteins carbs and fat at the scientific level, so you can understand how does it really work in your body and how does affect you. also, the good intro about trans fat and explanation about them was very good. and about processed food. But in the 3rd week of the course, the learning about food and health becomes very shallow and purely, almost you can find better explanations and studies on youtube channels. this is course ONLY for people who don't have any knowledge about food and overall health. if you have any knowledge about nutrition, vitamins, minerals and how their intake affects you and your metabolism, then skip it and find something that gives you more information and knowledge about your health.

Sound information, but I found nothing new here. Am very familiar with Michael Pollan's excellent work so no criticism here, but I suppose I expected a more in depth analysis of nutrition from Stanford Uni rather than a few recipes and basic information that can be found anywhere on the internet if you have the least interest in the health sciences. I recently completed the "Introductory Human Physiology" course on Coursera, which conversely was extremely technical and difficult for the unversed to understand easily. I am no longer sure what I am going to get when I see the words "Introduction to..." so maybe that needs a bit of consideration. The intended audience for this course seemed to me to be someone totally ignorant of the benefit of nutritious eating.

To me , you were preaching to the choir. I have been trying to follow Pollan's ideas for years. I was hoping for new information, but for me it was a rehash of stuff I have heard ad infinite. this did not seem like a class. This seemed more like an advertisement for healthy eating with it constant music and sparse content. Certainly it did not have the rigorous content that would have been required in a college level credited class. It was certainly not as interesting nor as informative as the Berkeley class "edible education 101"

Still as an advertisement for good eating it was well done. If you found an audience out there somewhere who had not heard these messages, then you have succeeded and I applaud you for that.

This course was well-paced and presented in an engaging way with quality graphics and clips. I like the balance of scientific, social, psychological and cultural information being taught. Also, the woman had an easy gentle voice that was perfect for this course. My only issue is the promotion of recipes that include animal products. A course about food and health should not include eggs. If the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has stated that it's illegal to label eggs as "nutritious" or "healthy" then why are there egg recipes at the end of this course? This feels especially problematic and contradictory since the egg and dairy industry's practices are horrificly unethical in The United States.

In the beginning it feels like a course, but from week three on it feels more like a conversation about food. It is more suitable for people with very little background n food science and nutrition, aiming to get some knowl on these fields. But the views are quite one sided and necessarily true when it comes to the understanding of the food chain. Of course, many of their opinions are valid, but I wouldn´t accept those views as solid rock statements because they are not.

In any case, I recomend the course for people with obesity problems and those who are too lazy to think about the importance of home cooking.

The quality of the videos is outstanding! Congratulations!

Good course if you don't know anything about healthy eating or are new to human biology/metabolism, but not a very comprehensive nutrition course for people looking for more.

The last "week" of the course is just a collection of recipes, which I can see being helpful for people who are new to healthy eating or looking for new and easy nutritous meals, but not very academically stimulating. The commentary from Dr. Mollan was really interesting however, and his participation was very interesting -- especially his ethos of "Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants." was very interesting a good, simple way of thinking about nutrition and eating a healthy diet.

Hate the music. And that permanent fake smile and constant nodding. Those are cheap brainwashing techniques which target human cognitive abilities and subconscious to make their words sound more deep and convincing.

You often can see such brainwashing tricks in commercials and advertisements which try to elevate some concept or idea but lack any information or facts to back it up. And it is very weird to see same tricks used in this set of lectures, because these ones actually do have a lot of facts and information and arguments behind them.

The whole course is basically just blaberring about vegetables. Almost no new or useful information for me.

I have mixed feelings about this class It offers simple, no nonsense dietary guidelines, but was superficial in many aspects. Was geared to people who are trying to get started eating a healthy diet, but is not for someone who wants more in depth information. I am a fan of Michael Pollan's books, but I have already read them and too much of this was just an interview with the author. I would prefer to hear more from the MD who was supposed to be the featured speaker and less from the journalist . It is an easy and painless class, but not challenging for anyone who already eats a healthy diet and who wants a bit more of the science.

The videos of the course are very good. I have no training in nutrition but the course seemed very basic, I would have liked something a little more in-depth. I was very surprised to see what American food is like. Most of the concepts shown in this course are basic and known to any European, African, Latino ... Who can not have onions or garlic in their kitchen? It seems to me that when it comes to food and cooking, the US has a long way to go; starting with becoming aware of what is being ingested and continuing to pressure the food industry to stop making shit. There is a lot to work on. Good luck and thank you very much.

I don't know when this course was made, but looking at it in 2020, the wealthy white privilege is stunning, with the "ease" of shopping for healthy fresh ingredients in your ample spare time, or growing herbs in your garden -- infinitely out of reach for people working minimum wage jobs or even middle class people living in apartments. There was some basic information about good nutrition, and some good tips for making lifestyle changes -- but, again, those are only tips available to people who have privilege. And speaking of white privilege, apart from Dr. Adams, I don't recall much diversity or inclusion in the video.

There was a lot of great tips and advice given during the course but the material is of such an introductory nature that I would not value a certificate held by an applicant for any job requiring nutrition training. I very much appreciate the first week's message, talk more about food than nutrition.

Personally, the recipes in week 5 were incredibly disappointing because all of them had animal products in them. Meat, dairy and eggs are processed foods, that some animal processed whole, plant-based foods instead of an industrial machine does not change the fact that it is processed.

Just say no to dietary cholesterol!

The beginning was a bit too technical/science based, for someone who didn't go beyond Grade 9 Science (and that was in 1985) but then it finished so easy. It has to be impossible for a person to not get 100% on the last two quizzes where you choose from five answers, and four are so obviously wrong.

Overall, the information provided is valid and useful, but the testing is poor.

Maya, the host, seems like a lovely lady. I found her too stiff and too perfect in everything she said and did. The man she interviewed seemed way more relaxed.

All this aside, I appreciate the opportunity to take the course. Thank you!

Good "basics" course. Great for beginners and reminders!

I was hoping for something more advanced & was a bit disappointed. I am probably more knowledgeable than most however. The statement made regarding "eating fruits & veggies regardless of whether they have pesticides or not" was a bit tough for me as I became ill in part due to pesticides and still am. I might always be. I understand eating veggies in place of other foods (i. e. - processed foods) as I eat very little meat anymore. But coming from Stanford and someone as educated as he is, that was shocking. It makes me wonder who funded this course.

Привет русскоязычным исследователям здорового питания! Этот курс привлек меня институтом и надеждой на базовые и современные знания. Но оказалось, здесь очень мало информации (видео на 18 минут в неделю) очень поверхностный рассказ. Тесты составлены на сложном английском языке, гугл-переводчик тут не поможет, если вы не владеете языком в совершенстве - придется обращаться за помощью.

Лучше прочитать одну книгу (например "Мой очаровательный кишечник").

Надеюсь мой отзыв поможет сомневающимся, но конечно - это личное мнение. Изучить весь курс вы сможете за одни выходные.

I appreciate this course, the quality of the videos, and the subject manner, however I felt that a lot of the material was drawn from an interview with Michael Pollan (why not just recommend reading his books, or seeing his wealth of documentaries on Netflix, such as "Cooked" and "In Defense of Food." I felt that this course did not offer as much scientific information about nutrition as I was hoping. Having said that, I feel like this course would be great for those struggling with their weight. There should be a link to this on diabetes and heart disease websites.

The course was enjoyable as such (I love hearing M. Pollan speak), but content-wise it was not something I was expecting. I think the only piece of knowledge provided is a division between protein/carbs and fats, and everything else is well, not very science based - in the sense I was expecting from Stanford. I expected to get much more actual content than fillers like eat more veggies, drink water. It seems to be directed to ppl who have absolute zero knowledge of what they should eat. No offence, I just expected to learn something.

El curso esta bien para marcar las bases nutricionales a personas que se alimentan de manera muy insaludable, sin embargo es bastante pobre para todas aquellas personas que se interesan por la nutrición y buscan aprender más.

Hay varios fallos en los alimentos utilizados, como mucha sal añadida a los alimentos, utlilización de Nutella en vez de una pasta de cacao realizada por uno mismo ....

Aún así he seguido el curso hasta el final y les agradezco el esfuerzo y dedicación para llevarlo a cabo!

Saludos y agradecimientos

Very simple course. Speak about very common things and teach how to cook simple dishes.

Was surprised that cooking crepes and eating them with Nutella is good. I thought that nutella is one of the product that should be avoided because it has sugar on the first place and palm oil on the second place.

Egg salad with mayonese. If mayo is a homemade, then it is ok, but buying mayo in a store is not a healthy food.

I expected more from this course. I was expecting some serious information on nutrition and food.

Short and concise. The course strongly aims for USA residents who eat too much. If you are that person, this course is perfect. As someone from another country without health problems, there was not much here. I was hoping to learn more about food and how to optimize my diet so as to increase energy, improve mood, increase life-expectancy, and reduce chances for depression. I found nothing about that. But it's not so bad because the course took me less than 3 hours and I still picked up a few things :).

This course teaches very basic knowledge about nutrition. It is good for people who have are just starting out on learning about food and nutrition. Personally I feel that the topics discussed were rather repetitive and general. Perhaps the course could have dived deeper into the topic of nutrition such as discussion of how cooking methods may affect nutritional values of food, different storage conditions for different food types and whether they have any impact on the nutritional contents etc.