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Class Catalog

Class Catalog > General

General

Select a class below for a detailed description, curriculum and accreditation information

Single Classes

Alzheimer’s Disease and Falling: What’s the Connection

Basic Pharmacology 1

Bioterrorism Events

Broken Heart Syndrome: Clinical Manifestations, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Cardiomyopathy

See list of additional classes

Class Packages Available

Individual Annual CE Membership

Class Author

Brooke Lounsbury

Brooke Lounsbury, a Registered Nurse, has over 26 years as a nurse. Her primary field was in Home Health and Hospice until leaving mainstream nursing in 2008 to teach holistic health classes devoted to helping people empower themselves through education, public speaking engagements, classes, and coaching -online and in person. Topics include digestive health, fermentation, sleep hygiene, and the effects of our technology (computers, wifi, cellphones, etc) on our health and traveled to Austria to receive further training and is an EMF consultant and home assessment mitigation expert.

Her latest project is her "Intro to Writing CE", a course to empower nurses on how to write a continuing education course!

She is available for writing course consultations, and can be reached at basicsrn@gmail.com.

Read Brooke Lounsbury's Full Bio...

Class Accreditation

All states recognize our courses for accredited continuing nursing education, CNE, contact hours. This course is accredited by the following boards:

Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # CEP 15467.

Provider approved by the Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia Boards of Nursing through CE Broker, CE Provider #: 50-13256.

Provider approved by the California Department of Public Health, Nurse Aide Certification (NAC) #7046. This document must be retained by the certified nurse assistant for a period of four years after the course completion. Provider approved by the District of Columbia Board of Nursing Assistive Personnel, Florida Board of Nursing-Certified Nursing Assistants; CE Broker CE Provider #: 50-13256.

What Others are Saying

"It was a very educational class."

C.A. - TX

"This class presented the information very concisely and simply. "

P.C. RN - Houston, TX

"I like having the ability to take the class and have it scored at my leisure. "

J.R. RN - Denver, CO

"Very Educating."

L.N. - Fort Worth, Texas

"It was easy to follow. Good study material! "

M.K. - LVN, TX

A Holistic Approach to Gut Health

Contact Hours: 1
Cost: $10.00

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For a complete list of accreditations for this course, please see the accreditation information box below the author’s bio. All states recognize our courses for accredited continuing nursing education, CNE, contact hours.

A Holistic Approach to Gut Health

There has been recent rediscovery into how important digestive health is to our overall health. It has been said that all health starts in the gut. This is very true on many levels. Our bodies cannot perform without the intricate dance of chemical, hormonal and physical interactions that take place every second within our digestive system. Recent discoveries have led to the emergence of mental health and the gut brain axis. There is a two way communication that takes place between our gut and brain. Even low grade inflammation can interrupt this delicate balance. Probiotics that travel along the vagus nerve have been recently discovered to contribute to mental health. Autoimmune diseases are exacerbated by poor gut health and low grade inflammation and gut dysbiosis. Stress profoundly affects holistic gut health and dramatically alters the chemical balance found within our gut. Even respiratory illness, rotavirus and some forms of cancer have benefited from the use of probiotics to bring our gastrointestinal system into balance. This course is designed to educate on the anatomy, physiology and of the digestive system. Along with this, the course offers explanations of probiotics, enzymes and their use, a short description of leaky gut, methods for healing gut dysbiosis and other causes of leaky gut, and the 5 Rs of the functional medicine model to heal leaky gut and improve digestive health.

Objectives

Upon completion the participant will be able to:

Discuss digestive process definitions.
List the anatomy of the digestive tract and accessory organs.
Discuss how the digestive tract and accessory organs work together to complete digestion.
Explain the role of the vagus nerve and the gut brain axis.
Identify the requirements of a healthy gut.
Explain what causes an unhealthy gut.
Explain how probiotics are classified.
Explain health benefits of probiotics.
Discuss Prebiotics and their role in improving digestive health.
Explain what enzymes are and the types of enzymes in the body.
Identify leaky gut.
Discuss the 5 Rs of healing leaky gut.

Curriculum

Chapter 1: Digestive Process Definitions

Digestion
Absorption
Secretion
Excretion

Chapter 2: Anatomy and Function of the Digestive System

Mouth and teeth
Pharynx/esophagus
Stomach and layers of stomach
Gastric glands and secretions
Three phases of gastric acid secretions
Gastric glands anatomy
Small intestine
Layers of small intestine
Duodenum
Jejunum
Ilium
Villi and microvilli
Appendix
Large intestine

Chapter 3: Accessory Organs

Definition of accessory organs
Salivary glands
Liver
Gallbladder
Pancreas

Chapter 4: Gut Brain Axis

What is the gut-brain axis
Vagus nerve anatomy
Functions of vagus nerve
How vagus nerve contributes to digestive health

Chapter 5: Obtain and Maintain a Healthy Gut

How to obtain and maintain a healthy gut
- Food choices
- Time to eat
- Relaxed atmosphere
- Good bacteria
- Enzymes
- Absence of pathogenic bacteria
Causes of unhealthy gut
- Poor food choices
- Environmental pesticides, genetically modified foods
- Additives put in foods
- Stress
- Pathogenic organisms (gut dysbiosis), a cause of leaky gut which will be discussed in depth in chapter 10
- Eating in a hurry

Chapter 6: Probiotic Review

What are probiotics and how are they classified and measured?
Probiotic terminology: CFU, genus, species strain
Probiotic examples
Health benefits of probiotics
What to look for in a probiotic
Cautions when taking probiotics or consuming probiotic rich foods

Chapter 7: Prebiotics

What are prebiotics?
Soluble fiber
Inulin
Food sources of inulin
Oligofructose (FOS)
Food sour5ces of inulin
Insoluble fiber which is broken down into
- Non fermentable fiber
- Fermentable fiber, also known as resistant starch (RS)
4 types of resistant starch
Short chain fatty acid butyrate- what it is
Health benefits of butyrate
Food sources of resistant starch

Chapter 8: Enzymes

There are three types of enzymes that affect the body and can improve digestive health:
- Metabolic
- Plant
- Digestive
  - Digestive enzymes secreted by different exocrine glands
  - There are 8 types of digestive enzymes

Protease
Amylase
Lipase
Cellulase
Maltase
Lactase
Phytase
Sucrase

Causes of lack of digestive enzymes
- Pancreatic dysfunction
- Brush border dysfunction due to disease
- Low grade inflammation
- Intestinal permeability
- Other diseases
- Chronic stress (most common cause)
- Low stomach acid

Symptoms of low digestive enzymes
A word about stomach acid
Treatments for high and low stomach acid
What to look for in a digestive enzyme formula
How to take digestive enzymes

Chapter 9: Leaky Gut

What is leaky gut?
Causes of leaky gut
Dysbiosis
Stress
Genetic predisposition
Diet
Leaky gut management
The 5 Rs of healing the gut (Functional medicine model)
- Remove offending substance
- Replace
- Repopulate
- Repair
- Rebalance

Chapter 10: Further Resources

Chapter 11: References

Chapter 12: Course Transcript