The Nutritional Sciences major is offered by the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology and includes three distinct specializations: Toxicology, Physiology & Metabolism, and Dietetics.
Students are knowledgeable in topics like the delivery of nutrients from foods to mammalian cells, the benefits and hazards of chemical agents, cultural and socio-economic determinants of human diets, and nutritional therapy for improvement of human health.
Students engage in NST research on topics like metabolic disease, aging, adipose tissue in diabetes, and disease therapy, in addition to research in other departments like Public Health and Molecular and Cell Biology.
Minors are also available in Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology .
Physiology & Metabolism educates students on the biology of metabolic regulation, the impact of genetics on dietary constituents, and the interaction among genetics, health, disease, and dietary chemicals.
Toxicology focuses on the effects of toxic agents from industrially produced environmental contaminants and designer drugs, to naturally occurring toxins found in herbs and food products.
Dietetics is transitioning to a graduate program to meet new professional standards for the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) licensure. Please contact nst.ugrad@berkeley.edu with questions.
Majoring in Nutritional Sciences: Physiology and Metabolism has allowed me to combine my passion for nutrition while meeting all the requirements for graduate school.