Nutrition Certification: Gut Health Diploma (Accredited)

Explore the mouth, stomach, small and large intestines, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas, and learn how digestion begins in the mouth with bile and enzymes, supporting nutrient uptake and gut health.

Taste and chew food with saliva containing amylase to form a bolus, then peristalsis moves it through the esophagus via the lower esophageal sphincter toward the stomach, supported by hydration.

Explore how the stomach uses acid and pepsin to break down proteins and kill pathogens, while mucus and bicarbonate protect its lining.

Explore how the small intestine digests and absorbs nutrients through the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, with villi and microvilli, bile, and enzymes guiding fats, carbohydrates, and protein uptake.

The large intestine absorbs water, electrolytes, and vitamins, forms feces, and hosts gut microbiota that ferment fiber into short chain fatty acids, supporting digestion and gut health.

Explore how the liver produces bile to emulsify fats, processes nutrients, detoxifies toxins, and regulates glycogen, glucose, amino acids, cholesterol, and clotting factors.

The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile produced by the liver. When fatty meals arrive, CCK signals release, emulsifying fats for digestion by lipase.

Explore how the pancreas acts as an enzyme factory, releasing amylase, lipase, and proteases into the duodenum, bicarbonate to neutralize acid, and hormones insulin and glucagon to regulate blood sugar.

Discover how proteins, carbs, fats, vitamins, and minerals are digested and absorbed, fueling energy, growth, and health; learn amino acid absorption for muscle repair and immune function.

Request feedback by leaving a course review and engaging with the Q&A section to ask questions, helping instructors improve and supporting your continued learning in gut health.

Explore how the body digests, absorbs, and distributes water soluble vitamins (b vitamins and vitamin c) and fat soluble vitamins (a, d, e, k), including b12 absorption with intrinsic factor.

Explore how minerals are digested and absorbed from the stomach to the small intestine, detailing calcium with vitamin D, iron forms, magnesium and zinc, and storage in bones and liver.

Explore the microbiome—the gut's diverse microbial community—and learn how it supports digestion, vitamin synthesis, and immunity, plus foods and strategies to restore balance after antibiotics.

Explore the gut microbiome's pivotal role in digestion, immunity, and mood through the gut-brain axis, and learn how diet, probiotics, and lifestyle shape microbial balance.

Explore how the gut microbiome drives digestion by fermenting fiber and complex carbs into short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, acetate, and propionate, supporting gut barrier, metabolism, and overall health.

Explore how the gut microbiome trains immune cells from birth and supports immune health through gut-associated lymphoid tissue, barrier integrity, and inflammation control, with probiotics and dysbiosis implications.

Antibiotics safely treat infections but disrupt the gut microbiome, risking lasting imbalance. Learn probiotic timing, limit sugar, and use fiber-rich foods plus glutamine to support intestinal repair after treatment.

Improve your gut health by boosting microbiome diversity with a fiber-rich, varied diet that includes probiotics, hydration, and mindful eating, while reducing processed foods, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and toxins.

Explore the gut brain axis and how stress, relaxation, and the enteric nervous system influence digestion, mood, and gut health, while meditation and breathing exercises support relaxation.

Explore the gut brain axis as a two-way dialogue between the gut and brain through the enteric nervous system and vagus nerve, where serotonin influences mood, digestion, and immune function.

Explore how the enteric nervous system regulates digestion and gut motility, peristalsis, enzyme release, and blood flow, signaling with the brain via the vagus nerve to influence hunger and satiety.

Compare passive and active relaxation and learn why active relaxation better reduces long-term stress, with deep breathing, meditation, yoga, stretching, and walking.

Master belly breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing, to train the diaphragm, enable easy deep breaths for beginners, improve oxygen exchange, slow the heartbeat, and lower blood pressure through a simple technique.

Explore alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana pranayama) to calm the mind, reduce stress, and prepare for meditation through slow, balanced breaths and mindful focus.

Learn the 4-7-8 breathing technique, developed by Andrew Weil, to calm the mind, improve sleep, and activate the parasympathetic system, with four-second nasal inhalation, seven-second hold, eight-second exhale.

Practice a guided five minute beginner meditation that relaxes through breath awareness, body grounding, and nonjudgmental noticing of thoughts and emotions to cultivate calm.

Practice a ten minute body scan meditation to relieve stress, anxiety, and discomfort, guiding breath and full-body relaxation from crown to toes with nonjudgmental awareness.

Practice a 15 minute sleep meditation that guides you to fall asleep faster through deep breathing, release tension, and count down from 100 to drift naturally into sleep.

Understand how sugar, artificial sweeteners, and junk food disrupt gut microbiome balance, triggering digestive issues and mood swings, and learn why reducing intake helps, compare milk types and fiber's role.

Explore how sugar affects digestion and the gut microbiome, including dysbiosis, inflammation, and leaky gut, and how spikes influence mood via serotonin and stress hormones.

Explore how common artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin can alter the gut microbiome, affect digestion, and influence gut health and inflammation.

Explore how junk food disrupts gut health by lowering fiber intake, shifting the gut microbiome toward harmful bacteria, and fueling inflammation via trans fats and sugar.

Explore how common medications, including antibiotics, NSAIDs, proton pump inhibitors, steroids, laxatives, SSRIs, birth control, and hormonal therapies, affect gut microbiome, gut lining, and digestion, with short-term and long-term consequences.

Compare cow, goat, and plant-based milks and their lactose content, lactase considerations, and prebiotic effects on gut health.

Compare A1 and A2 milk by beta-casein differences, BCM-7 byproducts, and their potential digestive and inflammatory effects, with goat and sheep milk as alternatives.

Discover how soluble and insoluble fiber feed your gut microbiome, produce short chain fatty acids, and support regular bowel movements; learn practical, gradual ways to add more fiber.

Discover daily fiber targets by age and gender, including 25 to 35 g general guidance and 14 g per 1000 calories, with gradual increases and water.

Apply theory to practice by designing a customized gut health diet, calculating intake, and using natural strategies to fix leaky gut and parasites while boosting bile and stomach acid.

Set measurable gut health goals using the smart framework to tailor your diet, track progress, and address bloating, irregular bowel movements, fatigue, or skin concerns, one goal at a time.

Learn to set smart diet goals using the specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely framework, track progress, break big goals into milestones, and stay motivated.

Identify stressor foods and inflammation triggers to tailor your gut-friendly meal plan. Learn how elimination diets reveal culprits like dairy, gluten, nightshades, and peanuts, with diary tracking and gradual reintroduction.

Identify gut triggers with a two-phase elimination diet. Eliminate suspects for 2–3 weeks, then reintroduce foods one at a time while monitoring symptoms.

Create a gut healthy diet from scratch with a five-step plan: calories, macros, meal timing, foods, and supplements, by calculating maintenance calories, assigning macro targets, and tracking meals with MyFitnessPal.

Discover how protein digestion and amino acid profiles affect your diet, with animal proteins offering high digestibility and plant proteins under pdCA scores requiring complementary strategies for complete amino acids.

Compare carbohydrate sources by fiber and micronutrients, glycemic index, and satiety to rank carbs from best to worst; emphasize whole grains, fruits, and vegetables as top choices.

Explore the difference between total carbohydrates and net carbs, learn how to calculate net carbs by subtracting fiber and sometimes certain sugar alcohols, and understand their impact on blood sugar.

Compare the types of fatty acids—trans, saturated, and unsaturated—highlighting why trans fats are harmful and how to prioritize high‑quality mono- and polyunsaturated fats from whole foods, fish, and cold‑pressed oils.

Explore probiotic foods that support gut health, including yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, pickles, and unpasteurized options for dairy and plant-based diets.

Learn which prebiotic foods fuel gut health by feeding good bacteria with fiber-rich options like bananas, garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, artichokes, oats, legumes, and apples.

Maximize nutrient absorption by improving chewing, stomach acid, digestive enzymes, and gut lining, while supporting a healthy gut microbiome and managing anti-nutrients.

Discover how bile is produced, how it emulsifies fats to aid digestion and fat-soluble vitamin absorption, and how nutrients like cholesterol and cofactors, plus bitter foods, naturally boost its production.

Increase stomach acid naturally by addressing zinc, B vitamins, and chloride, and by choosing protein-rich meals that stimulate acid production, with betaine HCl or pepsin as appropriate.

Eliminate gut parasites naturally by boosting bile flow, mineral balance, and immune function, aided by garlic, papaya seeds, pumpkin seeds, sauna, and lymphatic drainage.

Put together a complete gut health program that targets nervous system calm, nutrition, detox, and toxin reduction to support digestion, reduce inflammation, and strengthen overall biochemistry.

Explore gut supplements, pre and probiotics, bile supplements, digestive enzymes, glutamine, and psyllium husk, and learn how they function, their value, and how to take them correctly to support recovery.

Explore bile supplements such as ox bile, bile acids, bile salts, and tudca, and their roles in fat digestion, liver health, and bile flow.

Probiotic supplements mimic beneficial gut microbes to improve digestion, immunity, and balance the microbiome, using strains like Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces boulardii.

Explore how prebiotics feed gut bacteria to improve digestion, immunity, and mental health through fermentation that yields short-chain fatty acids, and cover fiber types, natural sources, and dosing.

Glutamine fuels and repairs the gut lining, reduces gastrointestinal inflammation, and may help leaky gut or ibs; take 5–10 g daily on an empty stomach, preferably as powder.

Explore psyllium husk, a plant-based soluble fiber that supports digestion and regulates bowel movements, promoting a healthy microbiome and balanced cholesterol and blood sugar.

Explore sauna use and dry brushing as simple, optional practices that support toxin elimination and overall health, easing liver stress and boosting energy, digestion, and immunity.

Explore near infrared saunas, which heat the body from the skin using reddish lamps. Experience improved blood circulation, detoxification, organ decongestion, and infection defense through heat therapy and relaxation.

Learn how to start infrared sauna sessions safely with proper distance of 12–24 inches, rotation every 3–5 minutes, post-session shower, and timing for health and electrolyte considerations.

Learn how dry brushing enhances lymph flow and toxin elimination by stimulating drainage and circulation with a natural brush, brushing toward lymph nodes before showering.

Cut toxin exposure by using aluminum-free deodorants, natural detergents, fluoride-free toothpaste, and glass or BPA-free packaging, while strengthening elimination organs for better gut health.