Normal nutrition is about the process of nourishing the body with food. Clinical nutrition goes deeper to study the role each nutrient plays in maintaining health. More specifically, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, clinical nutrition is "the science of nutrients, how they are digested, absorbed, transported, metabolized, stored and discharged by the body." A thorough understanding of normal and clinical nutrition requires learning about the building blocks of nutrition, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology, and the relationship of nutrition to medical conditions.
Step 1
Learn the basic building blocks of nutrition. This means learning about vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water. You'll need to know more than names, you'll also need to study what functions they serve, their sources and what happens in the event of an imbalance.
Step 2
Study the biochemistry of carbohydrates, triglycerides, fatty acids and proteins. Knowledge of biochemistry, or the body's complex chemical reactions, is important so that you can comprehend metabolism and how molecules from nutrients interact within the body to generate energy, build structures and produce essential chemicals.
Step 3
Explore the process of digestion. The organs that make up the digestive tract are the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus. The liver, pancreas and gallbladder also contribute enzymes necessary for digestion. You'll need to study the anatomy and physiology of each organ so that you can understand the absorption and transport of nutrients.
Step 4
Define normal nutrition. Now that you know how the body processes food, you'll need to learn about the recommended amounts of nutrients that are necessary to maintain normal nutrition for a healthy body. It's also important to find out about nutrition through the life cycle so that you understand the normal requirements at every age and stage of development.
Step 5
Expand your knowledge to include clinical nutrition. All of the above steps must be mastered before you can make sense of clinical nutrition. Now you're ready to learn about how nutrition causes or prevents illness and how illness impacts nutrition. You'll learn the details about what organs and systems are affected by too much---or too little---of any one nutrient. The areas of study are quite diverse, and go from hospital feeding, eating disorders, gastrointestinal disorders and diabetes, to the role of nutrition in illnesses including cancer, HIV and other medical conditions of the pancreas, gallbladder, heart and kidneys. This field of study also includes learning about potential interactions between medications and certain nutrients.
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