This course provides an introduction to traditional diets through the research of Weston A. Price DDS (1870 - 1948). Dr. Price traveled to isolated parts of the world during the 1930’s to study the health of populations untouched by western civilization. His discoveries and conclusions provide the nutritional keys not only to beautiful, straight and cavity-free teeth but also to physical beauty, strong constitutions, disease resistance, mental stability, easy reproduction and overall optimum health. Students will examine key differences between traditional and modern diets, the dangers of processed, packaged and fast foods, and why traditional peoples have always valued diets high in fat and cholesterol. They will discover why eggs, organ meats, shellfish, cultured foods and raw dairy products have long been revered as “sacred” and why grains, beans and seeds require soaking, fermenting and other traditional preparations to confer health benefits. Finally, students should develop their critical thinking skills as they consider the modern “health food” movement and the forms of malnutrition likely to result from today’s politically correct and fashionable, low fat, high-soy, plant-based This and vegetarian diets. (3 Credits)

MSTN 600 Course Objectives:

• Discuss the life, work, and travels of Weston A. Price, DDS;
• Identify the parameters of human health and the optimum characteristics of human diets as revealed by Dr. Price and supported by modern science;
• Argue for the value of nutrient‐dense whole foods and the vital fat‐soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats;
• Describe the eleven characteristics of traditional diets;
• Identify the dangers of commercially processed foods;
• Understand the inadequacies of today’s politically correct low fat, low‐cholesterol and plant based diets;
• Apply Dr. Price’s research to the multiple challenges of food procurement and preparation in our modern world.

The concepts of whole foods and biochemical individuality are foundational principles to the study and promotion of holistic health and nutrition.  The value and necessity of quality whole foods and their relationship to health and wellness is studied.  The basics of human nutritional requirements and a variety of dietary systems are reviewed.  The benefits of fresh, whole, chemical-free, plant-based, traditional, transitional diets, and lifestyle improvements are explored in relationship to the concept of biochemical individuality.   Environmental influences and consequences on health are discussed as related to environmental toxins, farming and soil technology, and water. (3 Credits)

MSTN 601 Course Objectives:

• Describe and apply the basic principles of holistic health and nutrition;
• Define and summarize biochemical individuality, nutrigenomics, and epigenetics;
• Evaluate and summarize the differences between whole foods, processed foods, and refined foods;
• Compare and contrast the effects and consequences of consuming nutrient dense whole foods vs. consuming processed, or nutrient deficient refined foods;
• Formulate a strategy to observe, monitor, and track food intake and activity;
• Distinguish between the characteristics of various dietary systems;
• Assess the benefits of traditional and plant-based eating versus a Western diet;
• Evaluate and summarize lifestyle and environmental factors that support or diminish health.

This course aligns the foundations of research, theory, and practice using a stepwise procedure for designing and delivering health and nutrition education. Holistic health concepts are investigated as students identify specific lifestyle factors that support or diminish health while effective goal setting is taught and practiced. Identification of common obstacles and overcoming resistance to change is explored. Additionally, because stress is a significant component of all health issues, students identify specific stressors, the body’s physical response to stress, and its effects on health status.  The course culminates with stress management skills being introduced and practiced and transitioning individuals toward improved behavior. Prerequisite: MHNE 601 (3 Credits)

MSTN 602 Course Objectives:

• Define health, health behavior, health education, and health promotion;
• Relate research and theory using a stepwise procedure for designing and delivering theory based nutrition education;
• Apply awareness and motivation while implementing a procedure to promote dietary and behavior environmental support change;
• Assess issues and behaviors to determine behavior change goals;
• Select theory and clarify intervention philosophy translating behavioral theory into educational objectives;
• Generate educational plans to facilitate motivation and the ability to change behavior;
• Identify effective outcomes and impacts for the evaluation plan of an intervention;
• Summarize and differentiate between lifestyle factors that support or diminish health;
• Differentiate and implement the S.M.A.R.T. elements of food and lifestyle goal setting;
• Summarize the body’s adaptation cycle in response to stress and develop stress management techniques.

Students research Internet sites, library systems, nutrition, and health journals in order to be aware of recently published research findings in the continuously evolving field of nutrition and health. Students develop critical thinking processes to understand and evaluate research studies, discern the quality, accuracy, and validity of published materials, and recognize the advantages and limitations of experimental designs and outcomes.  This course provides the structure for students to conduct research projects using the scientific method and utilize effective writing skills throughout their master’s course of studies including the MHNE 650: Research Project and Thesis course. Prerequisite: MHNE 604  (3 Credits)

MSTN 603 Course Objectives:

• Summarize the importance of remaining current with recently published research findings;
• Integrate the critical thinking processes used to understand and evaluate published research findings;
• Identify and use Internet sites, library systems, and peer-reviewed nutrition and health journals;
• Apply the guidelines for responsibly sharing information, including how to properly grant credit for another’s work;
• Explain the scientific method as it is used in developing hypotheses and conducting research in the field of nutrition;
• Review sources of nutrition information for reliability;
• Identify potential research flaws and conflicts including funding, profit motives, fraud, data manipulation, and bias;
• Outline and apply the key steps and elements of drafting a research paper;
• Understand and properly apply APA format.

The human body systems and their functions are reviewed. This course describes how human systems work separately while simultaneously functioning cooperatively with other parts of the body to maintain health. Organs, glands and chemical messengers involved in the process of digestion and absorption are evaluated to learn the intricate mechanics involved in human metabolism.  The applications of integrative nutritional strategies are introduced, including assessments of foods, herbs, lifestyle factors, and nutritional supplements that promote health. Prerequisite: MHNE 602  (3 Credits)

MSTN 631 Course Objectives:

• Describe the human body systems (skeletal and muscular, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, respiratory, immune, digestive, urinary, and reproductive) and their primary functions;
• Summarize the independent and interrelated functions of the digestive organs, glands, hormones, and secretions;
• Categorize the common symptoms and conditions associated with faulty digestion;
• Identify the process by which nutrients are absorbed and transported throughout the body;
• Summarize how cells regulate their intracellular and extracellular environments;
• Classify and utilize the assessments used to identify the health status of the digestive system;
• Formulate various food, herb, lifestyle, and supplement strategies that are used to support digestive health.

This course provides an in-depth look at the fats, oils, and cholesterol as well as the fat-soluble vitamins that Dr. Weston A. Price found abundant in the diets of traditional peoples around the world. Students are taught key differences between the traditional animal and vegetable fats and oils that have nourished people well for thousands of years and the industrially processed, refined and/or partially hydrogenated oils, margarines and spreads that are fueling today’s epidemic of chronic disease. They will are taught the pros and cons of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fats; their diverse roles in the body; the vital role of cholesterol; the proper handling of fats and oils; and our need for optimum levels and right ratios of vitamins A, D, and K. Students will also develop their critical thinking skills as they consider the fallacies of the “lipid hypothesis” and the misinterpretation, misappropriation and corruption of scientific research. Finally, they will gain insights into the ways politics, marketing and money have demonized fat, cholesterol and animal products and sanctified today’s fashionable low-fat, high-carb and plant-based diet plans. (3 Credits)

MSTN 702 Course Objectives:

• Name the traditional fats that nourished healthy population groups for thousands of years and explain why they are needed for optimum health today;
• Argue for the value of cholesterol, saturated fats and the vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats;
• Identify the dangers of industrially processed fats and oils and their links to cancer, heart disease, immune system dysfunction, obesity and other adverse health conditions;
• Build a convincing case against low-fat, high-carb and plant-based diets;
• Recognize signs of “fat deficiency”;
• Expose the fallacy of “the lipid hypothesis” and the politics that led to its adoption by dieticians, doctors, government agencies and medical bodies;
• Interpret key findings of the Framingham Study and other significant research on the role of fats, oil and cholesterol in heart disease;
• Address new findings and controversies about Vitamins A, D and K;
• Apply Dr. Price's research to a modern scientific understanding of fats, oils, cholesterol and fat-soluble vitamins.

Prior to enrolling in advanced level courses, students must have successfully completed all prior coursework and passed the Midterm Examination.

This course provides an in-depth look at the myth that vegetarian and vegan diets are the solution to personal and planetary health. Students will learn key nutritional differences between omnivorous and plant-based diets and the reasons why Dr. Weston A. Price was not able to find a single healthy culture eating a plant-based diet. They will also begin to develop the critical thinking skills needed to examine misinterpreted, misappropriated and corrupted scientific research and to understand the powerful role of marketing in influencing public ideas of what is healthy. Finally students will discover why plant-based diets are not the solution to world hunger, global warming or a just, sustainable world. (3 Credits)

MSTN 703 Course Objectives:

• Recognize the nutritional deficiencies most likely to be found in vegetarians and vegan clients;
• Argue convincingly against the notion that animal-sourced fats, fat-soluble vitamins and cholesterol are unnecessary for human health;
• Understand the risks of a high-soy diet, particularly to vegans who consume soy as both meat and dairy replacements;
• Describe how “plants bite back” through trypsin inhibitors, phytates, saponins and phytoestrogens and their links to digestive distress, cancer, other health challenges;
• Expose primary flaws in The China Study and other books that use science to proselytize for plant based diets;
• Explain why plant-based diets are not the solution to world hunger, global warming and environmental protection;
• Discuss how politics, marketing and money have demonized omnivorous diets and popularized low-fat, high-carb, high-soy, plant-based and vegetarian diet plans;
• Interpret key findings of Dr. Weston A. Price in the light of today’s fashionable, plant-based diet experiments.

This course exposes the "dirty little secrets" of modern, industrial food processing methods and the myriad ways politics, marketing and money have changed the American diet, lifestyle and landscape. Students will learn what's really wrong with packaged, processed and fast foods, the perils of discarding our ancient wise food traditions, and how America's addiction to convenient and cheap edibles is destroying personal and planetary health. They will gain insights into how government policies have built a SAD and artificially cheap diet on a foundation of wheat, corn and soy, how Big Agra has co-opted "organic," why low-fat, high-carb, plant-based diets have gone mainstream and why locavorism must be wave of the future. (3 Credits)

MSTN 704 Course Objectives:

• Explain how and why government policy has built the Standard American Diet (SAD) on a foundation of corn, wheat, and soy;
• Identify ways in which the fast food industry has transformed America’s diet, health, landscape, economy, and workforce;
• Trace the path of factory-farmed meat, poultry, corn, soy and potatoes through the Big Agra food chain from farm to fork;
• Expose the pastoral myths of Big Organic, along with the promises kept and hopes betrayed;
• Recognize the ways in which the food industry has manipulated what Americans eat, our ideas of what is “healthy” and our choices in the marketplace;
• Understand how profit-driven food companies work the political system, market their products, corrupt science and sway doctors, dietitians, and non profit and government agencies to their point of view; Argue for omnivorism and locavorism as the sustainable keys to human health, animal rights and environmental protection.

This course covers the history, science and politics of "real milk"-- i.e. raw, whole, unpasteurized and unhomogenized milk from pastured cows. Students will learn about the nutritional quality of real milk, its health benefits and curative properties, built in resistance to pathogens, and long-standing safety record, and how it fundamentally differs from factory-farmed milk. Issues of lactose intolerance, milk allergies, the A1/A2 milk controversy and milk substitutes will also be considered Most importantly, students will learn how raw milk has become a lightning rod for food freedom, and stands at the center of a larger battle between the industrial food system and the local food movement. (3 Credits)

MSTN 705 Course Objectives:

• Explain what is meant by “real milk”;
• Identify the health benefits of “real milk”;
• Argue for the safety of clean, raw whole milk from pastured cows;
• Describe real milk’s built-in protective mechanisms and resistance to pathogens;
• Refute the most frequently heard warnings against raw milk;
• Discuss the technology and testing methods that can ensure the safety of raw milk from small farmers;
• Recount the history of raw milk and its role in the rise of civilization;
• Explain how inferior quality raw milk from distillery dairies in the 19th and early 20th century caused disease and death, and led to a call for pasteurization;
• Explain why pasteurization, homogenization and fractionization increase profits for the dairy industry;
• Present reasons for today’s epidemic of lactose intolerance and milk allergies, and propose solutions including raw milk and A2 milk as well as non-dairy alternatives such as bone broth and coconut tonic;
• Consider the evidence linking the A1 protein in milk to the development of heart disease, Type I diabetes, autism and schizophrenia, and possible benefits from farmers converting their herds from A1 to A2;
• Compare the work of Dr. Francis M. Pottenger Jr. to the work of Dr. Weston A. Price;
• Discuss the government crackdown on raw milk dairies from the point of view of farmers, consumers, regulators and scientists;
• Advocate effectively for food freedom.

Coaching skills are employed as students apply the principles and practice the art of listening, building rapport, and giving positive feedback and direction to clients as individuals and in groups. Nutritional assessment techniques are used to determine health status and develop health and wellness plans to support health recovery and maintenance. Client forms and questionnaires are utilized to discern body systems that may be contributing to an individual’s health concerns. Students identify specific stressors, the body’s physical response to stress, as well as the effects of stress on health status.  Stress management tools and techniques are practiced. Students develop audio-visual aids for the presentation of health-related materials to individuals and groups. Prerequisite: MHNE Foundation Level Exam  (3 Credits)

MSTN 706 Course Objectives:

• Evaluate and employ the key characteristics of communication;
• Assess the characteristics, elements, and functions of nonverbal communication;
• Apply effective listening skills;
• Evaluate the formation of groups and leadership styles;
• Summarize the body’s adaptation cycle in response to stress;
• Analyze the health consequences of stress and evaluate stress management techniques;
• Prepare for and conduct a client or group coaching session;
• Collect and interpret specific diet and health information data from coaching sessions with clients or group surveys;
• Develop trust and confidence in client relationships;
• Prepare a health-supportive program for a client or group;
• Create effective, appropriate goals for a client or group in an educational program;
• Construct educational objectives and strategies to create a health and wellness plan.

This course provides an in-depth look at traditional nutrition for conception, pregnancy, infancy and childhood. It exposes the fallacies of low-fat, low-cholesterol and plant-based diets, and reveals the many reasons why such diets have led to an epidemic of infertility, high-risk pregnancies, breastfeeding difficulties and chronically unhealthy babies and children. Students will not only learn the solid science backing ancestral wisdom and the findings of Dr. Weston A. Price, but how to make those principles practical for modern parents. They will furthermore gain a holistic perspective on childrearing with a special emphasis on the work of Rudolf Steiner. (3 Credits)

MSTN 806 Course Objectives:

• Discuss the ancestral wisdom and hard science backing a Weston A. Price style diet for conception, pregnancy, infancy and childhood;
• Explain why low-fat, low-cholesterol and plant-based diets have led to an epidemic of infertility, high-risk pregnancies, breastfeeding difficulties and chronically unhealthy babies and children;
• Trace the history of childbearing, child feeding and child rearing practices and philosophies;
• Review the myths and truths of breastfeeding;
• Know what foods in the diet will help a new mother produce rich, nourishing breast milk;
• Argue for the use of quality homemade formula when the quality and/or quantity of breast milk is lacking;
• Expose the “dirty little secrets” of the infant formula industry;
• Advocate for child spacing;
• Recognize the risks of vaccinations and newborn interventions and know ways to eliminate or minimize those risks;
• Understand the  healing power of fever and other holistic perspectives on childhood illness;
• Present the work of Rudolf Steiner, especially his theories on childhood development and play.

This course covers the conditions of and consequences associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity. The conversion of nutrients to usable energy or storage in the body and the associated impact on weight gain or loss is examined. Heredity, conditioning, metabolism, dieting, the effects of hormonal influences, and environmental toxins on weight balance are presented. Healthy long-term weight reduction/gain/management plans are presented. Students explore holistic diet and behavior patterns for achieving optimal weight and develop personalized lifestyle and behavioral suggestions that are effective in maintaining healthy weight. Prerequisite: MHNE Foundation Level Exam  (3 Credits)

MSTN 809 Course Objectives:

• Assess and determine energy balance;
• Evaluate the genetic and environmental factors that lead to conditions of over- and under-weight;
• Describe how weight is affected by stress;
• Explain the role hormones play in hunger, appetite and energy balance;
• Contrast various weight loss and weight gain approaches and their effectiveness;
• Examine the importance of physical activity in weight and energy regulation;
• Summarize the effectiveness of various supplements in weight loss and gain;
• Develop teaching methodologies to promote healthy weight and prevention of disease;
• Devise a nutritional support strategy to address weight management and fitness issues.

At the successful completion of all coursework, students must pass the Final Examination.