Find out how your diet affects your brain, and your brain affects your diet.

FOOD FOR THOUGHTS is a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) animated by the University of Turin and supported by the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research PAS in Olsztyn and the Univeristy of Hohenheim . The course has been developed as a result of the collaboration within the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) – EIT Food (www.eitfood.eu).

Over the last few years, the importance of the link between gut and brain has become clear. On the Food for Thoughts course you’ll explore this complex relationship. You’ll learn how the brain works, and is affected by diet and nutritional deficiencies. You’ll also discover less known, cutting-edge subjects such as the gut-brain axis, the microbiome, and the relationship between food and reproductive health. Ultimately, you’ll be able to explain this two-sided relationship: the role of diet on brain function, and its opposite – how the brain can determine our dietary choices

What topics will you cover?

The course focuses on the relationship between food, brain and mind:

• How does the brain work?
• How do emotions and thoughts affect our food choices?
• How do diets and nutritional deficiencies affect our brain?
• Reward systems and their relationship with food
• The link between the microbiome and brain

The course starts 22 October and it is available free of charge on the FutureLearn platform (https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/food-for-thought/).