"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease."
- Thomas Edison.
Eating (or not eating) particular foods and supplementing with nutritional supplements has an important influence on a person’s health and well-being. Nutritional medicine is the art and science of knowing which foods or supplements an individual person needs to promote optimal health. There is a mass of scientific evidence that there is a direct relationship between health or ill-health and diet.
The body has nutritional requirements for optimal functioning:
macronutrients
- protein (amino acids)
- fats (particularly essential fatty acids like omega 3)
- carbohydrates
micronutrients
- vitamins
- minerals
- antioxidants
- phytonutrients
Individual requirements
Nutritional requirements may vary from person to person depending on factors like genetics, metabolic type, age, gender, stress, state of health and activity levels. A person’s ability to utilise and absorb nutrients may also vary depending on the efficiency of their digestive system. Also important is the body’s ability to neutralise and eliminate toxins and metabolic by-products effectively.
Deficiencies
In an ideal world, humans would get all necessary nutrition from food. Unfortunately, modern farming methods, food production, processing, transportation and storage denude the food of vital nutrients. Many illnesses and symptoms can be as a result of nutritional deficiencies.
Causes of nutrient deficiencies in food
Vitamin C is needed for at least 300 metabolic functions of the body. Most animals make their own but humans, primates and guinea pigs (all descended from a common evolutionary ancestor) cannot. Animals which make large amounts of vitamin C do not get heart disease (unless they are diabetic). Guinea pigs and humans do get heart disease. Vitamins, herbs and supplements are powerful substances and it is prudent to be knowledgeable about their effects before taking them – or rely on the expertise of a professional.
It is helpful to understand the basic functions of nutrients in the body: