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Nutrition 251 — at a Glance
| Course: | Autonomic Nervous System Regulation · 2 PACE-approved CE hours |
| Faculty: | Howard Benedikt, DC, DCBCN · Clinical Nutrition Faculty, CCEDseminars |
| Format: | On-demand online video with assessment · downloadable handouts · instant certificate |
| Pricing: | $20/hr · automatic 10% off at 6–9 hrs, 20% off at 10+ hrs in one order · no promo codes |
| Approval: | PACE Provider #34015544 · co-sponsored by Texas Chiropractic College · acceptance varies by state |
Board-approved · PACE Provider #34015544 · CE Broker auto-reporting for states served · Instant certificate
Every stressed patient in the practice is running on an autonomic nervous system that has been pushed toward one branch and cannot find its way back — and the adjustment, the supplement plan and the lifestyle advice all land on that system. Nutrition 251 zeroes in on the autonomic nervous system: a working review of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches, the neuroendocrine dysregulation that follows chronic activation, and HPA activation as the mechanism that turns a stressful season into a physiological state.
Dr. Howard Benedikt reviews the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system as the two halves of a single regulatory loop — what each does, how they are supposed to trade control across a day, and what happens when the balance is lost — then follows the loop into neuroendocrine dysregulation and HPA activation: the roles cortisol plays in the short run and the long run, the activation pathways that keep the axis switched on, and the assessment questions and nutritional levers that help a chiropractor recognize an autonomic problem and start to restore regulation.
Choose Your Nutrition Path — Three Lanes, One Curriculum
The Nutrition library — sixty-eight courses by Howard Benedikt, DC, DCBCN — organizes into three working lanes: the gut, the brain, and the conditions you already treat. Nutrition 201–210 is the foundation block, 211–220 the second, 221–230 the third, 231–240 the fourth, 241–250 the fifth, and 201–224 together form the 48-hour Clinical Nutrition Certification (CNC). Two hours each.
1 · Gut, Microbiome, Digestion and Detoxification
Where nutrient status is decided and where systemic inflammation is won or lost — from the intro principles of micronutrients and absorption to the microbiome, the liver’s biotransformation pathways, the GI disease files, the gut/brain connection, functional GI testing, and digestive enzymes.
201: Introduction to Clinical Nutrition
205: Detoxification
207: Microbiota & the Musculoskeletal System
208: Detoxification II
213: Gastrointestinal Disease & Nutrition
214: An Integrative Approach to Gastrointestinal Disease II
221: The Gut/Brain Connection
225: Functional Medicine Testing for GI Disturbances
248: Maximizing Health Through Proper Digestion and Absorption
258: Oxidative Stress Detoxification — Better Responses to Chiropractic Care
2 · Brain, Mood, Stress and the Nervous System
Nutritional neurology — the headache patient, the stress physiology your patients carry through the door, the brain-game files on how food drives cognition, the nutrition-and-mood pair, the fatigued patient, memory and dementia, nervous-system function, chronic fatigue with myofascial pain, the concussion protocol, the maladaptive stress response, and the fatigue work-up. You are here: Nutrition 251.
203: Nutritional Management of Headaches
204: Chiropractic Nutrition for Stress Management
211: The Brain Game — How Nutrition Impacts Brain Function
212: The Brain Game II — How Food Impacts Brain Function
218: Nutrition and Mood
219: Nutrition and Mood II
228: Dealing with Fatigue in Clinical Practice
233: Memory, Dementia, and Chiropractic Care
234: Optimal Nervous System Function & Nutrition
237: Chronic Fatigue and Myofascial Pain Syndrome — an Integrative Approach
240: Nutritional Management of Concussions in a Clinical Setting
242: Maladaptive Stress Response & Musculoskeletal Disease
244: Managing the Fatigued Patient
247: Optimizing Nervous System Function with Nutrition
251: Autonomic Nervous System Regulation
253: Stress Management II
254: Stress I — How Managing Stress Leads to Better Patient Outcomes
263: Stress Update — Supporting Our Patients During Uncertain Times
264: Brain Game III — How Food Impacts Brain Function
3 · Musculoskeletal, Immune, Hormonal and Clinical Conditions
Nutritional management layered onto what you already treat — arthritic and autoimmune joints, neuropathy and neuropathic pain, immune resilience and the cold-and-flu season, lipids and cholesterol, antioxidants, endocrine disruptors, the thyroid and hormone-testing files, menopause and estrogen, vitamin D, sports injuries, diet and chronic disease, women’s musculoskeletal health, the pain files, the pediatric pair, osteoporosis, and the commonly seen conditions.
202: Nutritional Management of Arthritic Disease
206: Management of Neuropathy
209: Nutrition & the Immune System
210: The Fat Story & Cholesterol
215: Antioxidants in Health and Disease
216: Antioxidants in Health and Disease II
217: Endocrine Disruptors in Health & Disease
220: Management of Autoimmune Disorders — Rheumatoid Arthritis
222: Assessing Thyroid Health in Clinical Practice I
223: Assessing Hormones in Clinical Practice I
224: Assessing Hormones in Clinical Practice II
226: Women’s Health Issues — Focus on Menopause and Estrogen
227: Vitamin D & Musculoskeletal Health
229: Nutritional Management of Sports Injuries
230: A Primer on the Role of Diet and Chronic Disease
231: Women’s Health Issues and the Musculoskeletal System
232: An Integrative Approach to the Musculoskeletal System
235: Pediatric Nutrition & Chiropractic I
236: Pediatric Nutrition & Chiropractic II
238: Chiropractic and Osteoporosis
239: Treating Commonly Seen Conditions in Chiropractic Practice
241: Strengthen Your Immune and Musculoskeletal System through Nutrition and Chiropractic
243: Joint Pain & Inflammation
245: Natural Remedies for the Pain Patient
246: Keeping Healthy During Cold and Flu Season
249: New Strategies for Pain Management in the Chiropractic Setting
250: Neuropathic Pain Management
252: Special Topics in Nutrition
255: Autoimmune Disease II
256: Sports Injury Management in a Chiropractic Office
257: Bone Health
259: Path to Wellness
260: Nutrition and Musculoskeletal Health
261: Wellness and Chiropractic
262: Women’s Health and Nutrition
265: Neuropathy — Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Approaches
266: Comprehensive Approach for Treatment of Joints, Tendons and Ligaments
267: How Nutrition and Chiropractic Go Hand in Hand
269: Nutritional Management of Neuropathy
Every course in the series is 2 PACE-approved CE hours at $40, and the automatic bundle discounts apply across the whole lane. The full 68-course catalog continues on the Nutrition category page.
What You’ll Learn in Nutrition 251
Understand the effects of stress on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Identify the roles cortisol can play in acute and chronic HPA activation.
Outline the methods and pathways of HPA activation and the neuroendocrine dysregulation that follows.
Discuss neuroendocrine regulation and the nutritional and clinical levers that support autonomic balance.
Your Nutrition Faculty
Howard Benedikt, DC, DCBCN — instructor of this course. Board-certified chiropractic clinical nutritionist, Diplomate and President of the Chiropractic Board of Clinical Nutrition, with more than 30 years in clinical nutrition and functional medicine. He authors all 68 courses in the CCEDseminars Nutrition library and the Clinical Nutrition Certification (CNC) track at its core, and is known for translating complex nutritional biochemistry into practical, office-ready protocols — here, the oxidative-stress mechanism of neuropathic pain and the nutrients that address it.
Full bio and the complete instructor roster: CCEDseminars faculty page.
Where Nutrition CE Hours Count — State Rules Worth Knowing
Nutrition coursework is clinical subject matter — assessment, clinical reasoning and nutritional management of patient conditions — which is exactly what several state boards ask for. In Iowa, these hours serve the 36-hour clinical case-management minimum; in Rhode Island, they address the 50-of-60 clinical requirement; and in Vermont — where practice-building coursework earns nothing — patient-care education like this counts fully under the clinical-focus rule.
Online-format allowances still vary by state — some accept every hour online, others cap distance learning or require in-person blocks. Check your state’s guide in the full state directory before building your renewal plan.
Build Your Nutrition Block — or Take the Credential
Every course in the Nutrition series runs 2 hours at $40, so the automatic discounts do the bundling for you: 6–9 hours in one order earns 10% off, and 10 or more earns 20% off — any ten courses from the series is 20 hours, which clears the 20% tier at roughly $320 instead of $400, with no promo codes. Autonomic Nervous System Regulation pairs naturally with Nutrition 204 on stress management and Nutrition 247 on nervous-system nutrition; the three together reach 6 hours and the 10% tier. Pursuing the credential? The Clinical Nutrition Certification (CNC) packages Nutrition 201–224 — 48 hours — in a single $960 checkout. Browse Nutrition Courses
Nutrition 251 — Frequently Asked Questions
What does Nutrition 251 cover?
Nutrition 251 covers autonomic nervous system regulation for chiropractors: a review of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, the neuroendocrine dysregulation that follows chronic stress, the roles of cortisol, and HPA activation and its pathways. Also known as the autonomic nervous system course, sympathetic-parasympathetic balance, or the HPA axis primer.
What is HPA activation, and why does it matter to a chiropractor?
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is the pathway that turns a perceived stressor into cortisol. Short bursts are adaptive; sustained activation drives the neuroendocrine dysregulation behind fatigue, poor sleep, blood-sugar swings, slow tissue recovery and heightened pain sensitivity — the patient who never quite holds an adjustment. Dr. Benedikt outlines the activation methods and the cortisol roles so the pattern is recognizable in the exam room.
How do the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems relate to stress?
They are the two branches of one loop: sympathetic activation mobilizes the body for demand, and parasympathetic tone returns it to rest, digestion and repair. Chronic stress biases the loop toward sympathetic dominance and blunts the parasympathetic recovery phase. The course reviews both branches and the nutritional and clinical strategies that help restore the swing between them.
How is this different from Nutrition 204, Chiropractic Nutrition for Stress Management?
Nutrition 204 is the stress-management course — recognizing the stressed patient and the nutritional protocols for the stress response. Nutrition 251 goes one level deeper into the wiring: the autonomic branches themselves, neuroendocrine dysregulation and the HPA activation pathways. Take 204 for management and 251 for the regulatory physiology behind it.
How many CE hours is it, and where does it sit in the Nutrition series?
It is 2 PACE-approved CE hours. Nutrition 251 sits in the brain, mood, stress and nervous-system lane of the Nutrition series with Dr. Howard Benedikt, alongside Nutrition 204 (Chiropractic Nutrition for Stress Management), 247 (nervous-system nutrition), 253 (Stress Management II) and 254 (Stress I).
State Approval and Licensing Reminder
Continuing education requirements — including online-hour caps and clinical-hour minimums — vary by jurisdiction. Review the online chiropractic CE guidelines page and contact CCEDseminars with questions about your specific licensing requirements before registering.
Ready to Enroll in Nutrition 251?
The wired-and-tired patient is an autonomic problem before it is anything else. Two hours here give you the sympathetic-parasympathetic loop, the HPA activation pathways and the cortisol picture to recognize it and start restoring regulation.
CCEDseminars · PACE Provider #34015544 · Reviewed by Monte Horne, DC · Last updated September 2026 (CT)