Transform Your Future in the Nutrition Field Through Bastyr’s Accelerated Online Master's Degree in Integrative Nutrition
How to Navigate This Resource
We invite you to explore this guide in whatever way makes the most sense to you. Read it from top to bottom, or drop down to the section that appeals to you.
Integrative Nutrition is a holistic approach to health and wellness, focusing on how food, environment, and culture intersect to support the body’s natural ability to thrive. This philosophy emphasizes the use of whole foods, culinary medicine, and sustainable food systems to promote health and prevent disease. Integrative Nutrition professionals empower clients to adopt personalized nutrition strategies rooted in evidence-based science and the healing power of nature.
With growing awareness of the role nutrition plays in disease prevention and overall well-being, the field of integrative nutrition offers exciting career opportunities for those passionate about using food as medicine to transform lives.
Explore the Online Master of Science in Integrative Nutrition at Bastyr University
Bastyr University has been a pioneer in holistic education, teaching students to harness the healing potential of nature. Our Master of Science in Integrative Nutrition (MSIN) program embodies this philosophy by combining rigorous scientific training with a deep understanding of food's transformative role in health.
The MSIN program emphasizes:
- Whole-foods nutrition principles that promote the therapeutic value of minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods.
- Culinary medicine, empowering students to integrate cooking skills and food preparation into practical applications for health.
- Nutrition science grounded in evidence-based research to create effective, personalized dietary plans.
- Food justice and accessibility, exploring the socioeconomic and political factors that influence food systems.
- Integrative nutrition education, providing a comprehensive understanding of nutrition's role in wellness care and disease prevention.
Fully online and asynchronous, the MSIN is designed for working professionals, allowing students to earn their degree in as little as 18-24 months without relocating or leaving their careers. Courses are delivered in an accelerated format, one at a time, for focused learning.
Graduates fulfill the academic requirement for the Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) credential* and excel in diverse nutrition-focused careers.
*CNS certification requires supervised practice hours and a board exam in addition to the academic fulfillment. Bastyr does not provide supervised practice hours or board exam preparation. Please contact the CNS organization directly for further details on the certification process.
The MSIN from Bastyr University fulfills the academic requirements for CNS certification, so students may pursue that credential if they wish.
What About Tuition?
We understand that tuition can feel like a barrier to some students. That’s why we offer a tuition guarantee, promising our tuition will remain affordable and predictable. As long as students don’t experience interruptions in their course of study, their tuition will remain the same and never increase while they earn this degree.
Digital learning platforms are growing in popularity and accessibility as more degrees offer online options for students to join their programs from anywhere in the world. Bastyr offers flexible online learning for working professionals.
Our online learning platform empowers students to:
- complete coursework from anywhere, with flexible schedules.
- balance education with careers and personal responsibilities.
- engage with diverse perspectives in a global, virtual classroom.
By allowing students from more locations to join programs, online degrees organically build different perspectives and learning experiences into their cohorts.
With this degree, you will:
Deepen your expertise in integrative nutrition principles and applications.
Explore the Whole Foods philosophy, culinary medicine, and sustainable food systems.
Develop practical skills for designing personalized nutrition plans.
Advocate for food justice and increased access to health-promoting resources.
Your knowledge of how diet and lifestyle interact will also help you provide customized nutrition plans for your clients. You will have more insight into what foods will fuel them to live their most productive lives.
Providing your clients with a holistic, whole-person approach will give them insight into how to listen to their bodies, making them an active part of their nutrition plan. Restoring autonomy and educating clients on how to feel their best can motivate them to continue toward their goals since they are more aware of how to reach them.
Upon completion of the MSIN program at Bastyr, you will be able to:
Apply principles of integrative nutrition to promote health and wellness in individuals and groups.
Evaluate dietary models with an integrative whole food, social, and environmental justice approach.
Analyze nutrition status, identify nutritional needs, and apply evidence-based nutrition science in designing interventions.
Create an original scientific case report research applying integrative nutrition principles in real-life scenarios.
Our online nutrition degree provides students with a flexible learning environment. The curriculum is student-centered and taught by our highly qualified faculty.
Myth: Online Learning Lacks Quality Compared to On-Campus Programs
Fact: Bastyr’s online programs meet the same rigorous academic standards as our in-person offerings, led by experienced faculty.
Myth: Online Learning is Easier or Less Rigorous
Fact: The online MSIN program is just as rigorous as Bastyr’s in-person programs, and it requires the same dedication. The education is equivalent; the delivery method is what differs, making it more accessible for those out-of-state to join the program.
Myth: Online Learning is Less Hands-On
Fact: Through innovative tools like cooking practicums, case studies, and mock client scenarios, students gain hands-on experience. Professors provide personalized support to ensure students can apply their integrative nutrition knowledge effectively to their practices.
Myth: Online Learning Lacks Career Development and Networking Opportunities
Fact: Bastyr University’s MSIN program offers robust career support and networking resources tailored for online students. Through our dedicated Career Services, you’ll gain access to personalized coaching, engaging workshops, webinars, and virtual networking events that help you connect with peers and professionals in the field. Additionally, our exclusive online community platform fosters collaboration, professional growth, and meaningful connections among students and faculty alike.
Myth: Online Degrees are Not as Valued by Potential Employers
Fact: Employers increasingly recognize the discipline and commitment required to complete a high-quality online degree from an accredited institution like Bastyr.
Myth: Online Education is Impersonal
Fact: Though the MSIN program is fully asynchronous, it’s designed with a strong focus on connection and community. Our instructors prioritize personalized learning experiences, offering timely feedback, responsive communication, and support tailored to your needs. The program also fosters a collaborative environment, creating a vibrant and engaging space where students feel supported throughout their journey.
Explore the Unique Online
Nutrition Curriculum
Students who enroll in the MSIN can expect to research, explore culinary medicine, and develop their counseling skills. Our whole-person wellness lens teaches disease prevention, whole-food nutrition, dietary supplementation, food systems, and justice.
Bastyr’s MSIN curriculum includes courses that emphasize the role of food in health promotion and disease prevention through a whole-person wellness lens.
Read about some of the MSIN courses below:
Whole Foods Nutrition in Culinary Medicine
This course emphasizes the health-supportive evidence of a whole-food diet and trains students in incorporating culinary skills into health practice. The main focus of the course is the selection of foods from nature to the point of purchase, with health-promoting culinary techniques and cooking demonstration skills. A weekly cooking practicum completes the cycle from store to table. Students also demonstrate their skills in a practice recorded culinary demonstration in culinary medicine.
Human Physiology for the Integrative Nutritionist
This is a foundational course in which students examine the functioning and interrelationships of the human body's organ systems. Topics include homeostasis, feedback mechanisms, and the function and relationship of the following organ systems: integumentary, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, and digestive.
Nature, Environment, and Food Systems
This course focuses on the importance of food and food choice in a global context. It discusses interactions between food choice and ecology, including such areas as food technology, water use, and sustainable agriculture. It also includes food access, security, and world hunger. The socioeconomic and political factors in food selection are examined. Multicultural and interdisciplinary perspectives are used to broaden the understanding of integrative nutrition.
Nutritional Biochemistry
This is a foundational course providing an overview of basic human metabolism. Topics include carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolic pathways, with integration into overall anabolic and catabolic metabolic processes.
Integrative Nutrition Counseling
In this course, students incorporate principles of integrative nutrition and counseling skills. Motivational interviewing, wellness vision creation, goal setting, and behavior change are applied to food and nutrition issues through exercises, case studies, and mock clients. Students examine barriers and motivators to behavior and lifestyle change and explore different aspects of health and wellness.
Research in Integrative Nutrition
This course explores research methodology and biostatistics, emphasizing understanding and interpreting current research in Integrative Nutrition. Topics discussed include qualitative and quantitative, epidemiologic, and experimental research methods. Data analysis and common statistical methods will also be discussed, emphasizing the design and interpretation of research studies.
Integrative Nutrition Metabolism
This course applies an integrative approach to human metabolism. It discusses the definitions of integrative nutrition and nutritional biochemistry. Macronutrient digestion, biological requirements, absorption, and metabolism are emphasized. Micronutrient dietary sources, functions, bioavailability, metabolism, evidence for requirements, potential deficiency and toxicity, interaction with other nutrients, and assessment of nutritional status are also emphasized.
Nutrition Analysis, Assessment, and Meal Planning
This course presents different methods for assessing and screening nutritional status to promote health. Emphasis is placed on anthropometric, dietary, clinical, and biochemical measures. Students develop a deeper understanding of nutrition guidelines and common diet therapies for chronic diseases. They also practice analysis and assessment skills and apply them to meal planning.
Integrative Nutrition in Wellness Care
This course applies a whole-person perspective on health and wellness to evidence-based nutrition care. Life-cycle nutrition and its wellness ramifications are emphasized: physical activity, stress, sleep hygiene, and social determinants of health are discussed under a lifestyle medicine lens for different life stages—from infancy to the elderly.
Integrative Nutrition in Chronic Disease Prevention
This course explores the pathology of diet-related chronic disease, focusing on inflammatory processes and cell repair. Students take a systematic approach to exploring common disease processes with an integrative nutrition focus and identify strategies for disease prevention.
Supplementation and Bioactive Compounds in Nutrition Care
This course focuses on supplements and herbal products' nutritional and physiological value as applied to wellness promotion and chronic disease management. It discusses the production, safety, and regulation of supplements. It also presents vitamins, minerals, bioactive compounds, medicinal herbs, and microbiome supplementation in nutrition care.
Graduates of the MSIN program are prepared to pursue further professional credentialing. The requirements to practice nutrition vary widely across the United States, so it is important to understand the stipulations in your area. The scope of practice for nutrition professionals varies from state to state, and the local state health department usually determines it. Prospective students should evaluate the requirements for practicing nutrition in their state before deciding on a master’s degree program.
To graduate from Bastyr, MSIN students must complete a minimum of 54 credits (45 of which must be earned directly through courses offered by Bastyr University) and must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA. MSIN students must complete their degree within five years of enrollment into the program and complete the Capstone Research Project to graduate.
Careers in Nutrition for MSIN Graduates
The job outlook for nutrition careers is projected to grow 7 percent in the next decade, creating about 6,100 job openings.
Graduates of Bastyr’s MSIN program are ready to transform lives through careers in:
- Nutrition consulting in private and group settings, spas, wellness centers, and schools
- Advisors for corporate wellness programs
- Professionals in the natural products industry
- Research and development professionals
- Nutrition educators and promoters
Requirements and Guide to the Online Nutrition Program Application Process
The minimum requirements* for admission into Bastyr's MSIN program are:
- The completion of a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited university
- A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 (a GPA lower than this will require the review of the program chair)
*To be considered for transferring in foundation courses (Nutrition Biochemistry and Physiology for the Nutrition Professions), a transfer form with official transcripts must be included with the application and is subject to approval.
If you're consider applying to Bastyr University, be sure to:
- Start your online application
- Submit your transcripts
- Write your personal statement
- Submit any other application materials
- Determine if you need to attend an admissions interview
Read more about completing your application.
Tuition and Fees
The total tuition cost for the Online MSIN program is $26,750. In just two years, students can graduate with their MSIN and start making a difference in their communities and for their clients. Bastyr University aims to make our education accessible and affordable so that students who start our MSIN program can rest assured that their tuition costs will not change as long as there are no interruptions to their studies.
The Online Master of Science in Integrative Nutrition from Bastyr University equips students to drive meaningful change in the field of nutrition. From advocating for food equity to educating individuals and communities on pillars of nutrition for health promotion, graduates are empowered to make a lasting impact. The program’s flexible, accessible, and rigorous design ensures that students can achieve their goals without sacrificing their current commitments.
Take Your Next Steps with Bastyr
If you think the Master of Science in Integrative Nutrition is the right step for your career and your goals, but you want some time to talk with one of our admissions counselors personally, we encourage you to schedule an appointment now.