• present an academic argument supported by high quality research evidence
• use appropriate academic language in order to convey complex concepts to non-subject specialist audience
• critically evaluate the secondary literature sources
• challenge your own opinion when faced with hard facts
• form your own opinion based on evidence and draw your own conclusion.
Critically discuss the connection between diet, metabolism and disease (e.g. type II diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease) or metabolic stress (e.g. oxidative stress, inflammation, obesity). You can choose one of the two topics:
“The link between consumption of sugar and the development of metabolic syndrome”
so the assignment would be about using sugar and its relation to diabetes type 2
It is essential that you provide a review of literature concerning the topic of your choice. The task can be achieved by thorough reading of research journal articles. In critical discussion of connection between diet and health you must consider and comment on the design of studies you chose to evaluate. The best practice is to examine different types of studies (human, animal, intervention trials, randomised control trials), where the mechanism of development of a diet-related disease and its link with dietary habits, patterns or intakes of particular type of foods or nutrients was studied. You must examine the methodology applied in the studies you have chosen to evaluate. In addition, it is important to examine and quote any relevant results (statistical measures), and evaluate conclusions drawn by researchers.
It is strongly advised that you begin your assignment with a brief section examining the incidence of your disease. Official government statistics or specific guidelines can be useful for this element.
You should explore the studies that show a link between intakes of relevant nutrient with your named disease. Remember that you will need to consider and comment on the type of studies used, their potential limitations and the strength of conclusions that can be based on this.
Based on the studies you identify, discuss the altered metabolic process that underpin the observations made by your studies. Remember to discuss the molecular, cellular and whole body processes. It is important that you use published research to support your discussion, in addition to both cellular, animal and human studies where appropriate. It is important that you do not describe normal metabolism of nutrients, as this is not the point of this coursework.
Consider whether biomarkers used in the studies you take into account were appropriate. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of approach adopted by researchers in studies that you refer to. Utilise official guidelines and discuss how these agree or disagree with the evidence base.
You should think within the bigger picture of nutrition, and consider the social/public health aspect of the disease and its dietary prevention/management.
It is essential that you underpin your literature review with full list of references. It is strongly advised that you do not use websites such as NHS, BBC, Diabetes UK, British Nutrition Foundation, WebMD, etc. as source of information, as these sources do not provide research evidence. We are assessing your ability to deal with results of published research. It is important that you demonstrate the ability to extract relevant information (relevant statistical measures, results, conclusions) from research articles, and not just use research articles as a bank of statements to use in your coursework.
The structure of the report is flexible and you should aim to develop your own structure including numbered headings and subheadings, and allocation of word count to relevant sections of your work. Below are some headings for guidance only.
1. Introduction: introduce the focus of the report, what you will and will not be addressing in the report.
2. Literature review: using numbered headings and subheadings as appropriate for the task of your choice, critically review the evidence linking food, nutrients, energy, and prevalence of metabolic disorders/metabolic stresses. You should identify the studies that show a link between nutrition and your named disease/metabolic stress and evaluate the strength of this evidence. Evaluate the possible biochemical mechanisms underpinning this relationship and critically discuss how dietary changes can be used to modify these mechanisms.
3. Conclusions: This section should include appropriate concluding statements (deduced from the literature) involving nutrition, metabolic stress/disease and its dietary management. Statements should be supported by appropriate references. Remember not to draw bold conclusions.
4. References: MMU Harvard referencing must be followed throughout the document
• first talk about the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, prevalence in the UK of type 2 diabetes
• sugar consumption the link between fructose, sucrose and glucose and how it is related to diabetes type 2
• use, systematic studies, meta-analysis studies, cohort, and another relevant study, also talk epidemiology about the CI ratio and odd ratio, and interval ration, hazard ratio, P value. relevant statistics, discuss the sample size, design of the study, the intervention what was control, finding results and the conclusion.
• The impact of the nutrients, and the relation of metabolism, and explanation to the mechanism of the contribution nutrition’s and the disease, the relation between the cause and the outcome between the sugar and diabetes type 2.
• the most important thing is to follow the proper structure for literature review and use the evidence and relevance for each study.
• also, the limitations of the studies
• please use Harvard reference.
