There are 3 main reasons why a healthy diet is critical to good health. First, you must eat right to maintain muscle and bone mass and prevent vitamin deficiencies. Second, a healthy diet helps prevent disease such as heart attack, stroke, osteoporosis, and cancer. Third, food can help control or treat certain diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and celiac disease. Healthy eating habits help you maintain your health, prevent diseases, and treat certain conditions.

A healthy diet provides the body carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals in appropriate amounts to maintain healthy muscle, organs, bones, and nerves. Vitamins and minerals in particular are important for metabolism, which is the production of energy by the body using chemical reactions within cells. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released new dietary guidelines in 2005. These guidelines emphasize eating more plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. They also emphasize consuming fat-free or low-fat dairy products. Protein should be provided from lean meats, poultry, fish, beans and eggs. Nuts are also encouraged as good sources of essential fats. These guidelines also limit saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and sugars.

Dr. Stephen DeFelice coined the term "neutraceutical" in 1989 by combining the terms nutrition and pharmaceutical. Dr. DeFelice defined the term as "a food that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and/or treatment of a disease." Dietary supplements contain vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, amino acids, or other dietary substances for human use to supplement the diet by increasing the intake of those ingredients. Neutriceuticals differ from dietary supplements in that they not only supplement the diet but should aid in the prevention or treatment of a disease. The term neutriceutical is used for marketing products but has no regulatory definition. Dr. DeFelice has founded the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine to promote the enactment of laws and regulations for the scientific review and approval of neutriceuticals. One example of a dietary supplement being used to treat a medical condition is the prescription product Lovaza. Lovaza is a combination of the omega-3 fattys acids EPA and DHA commonly found in fish oils. It is used to lower serum triglycerides. Lovaza differs from fish-oil supplements in that it undergoes a five-step process to remove cholesterol, saturated fat, and environmental toxins to create a consistent blend of omega-3 fatty acids. Another example of a nutritional substance being used therapeutically is the use of high-soluble fiber foods and supplements to help control blood glucose levels in diabetes. Amounts of 25 to 30 grams per day of soluble fiber are recommended to help regulate blood glucose levels and reduce the risk of the complications of diabetes.

The study of the use of nutrition to treat disease is just beginning. This research offers hope for cost-effective treatments for some of our most challenging chronic illnesses. Hopefully we can take a big step in the use of nutrition from body maintenance and disease prevention to actual treatment to help lower the cost of health care in the U.S.

References: http://www.medicinenet.com/prevention/article.htm, http://www.aapsj.org/view.asp?art=ps050325.

[Return to Archive Index]

[PageTop]