Hippocrates, known as the father of modern medicine, had once said that a time will come when food will be taken as medicine and medicine will be taken as food. Modern medicine is today going back to the root cause of many diseases.
Improper diet causes nutritional disturbances in the body resulting in many diseases. Environment and genetic reasons enhance or check the disease. This is one of the emerging lines of study in modern medicine, which is termed Nutritional Medicine.
Famine had killed many in any number of countries. It had left an unpleasant notion worldwide that people are dying of starvation. Hence, there had been concerted efforts to increase output of food grain and other food products to prevent famine. In modern times, people are dying of excessive food, but they are yet to take stock of the situation.
People today eat according to convenience. The nutrient value of the intake of food is not however, appreciated, leading to a number of deficiencies. This imbalance in diet is said to have led to an increase in most of the lifestyle diseases. Modern medicine has found methods to treat these diseases, though the preventive aspects were seldom addressed.
Experts now opine that diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension and even cancers can be prevented to some extent with a proper control over nutrition. The importance of nutritional medicine lies in taking stock of what we eat, how we eat and how much we eat.
Emerging Trends in Nutritional Medicine, the first workshop organised by Indian Nutritional Medical Association (INMA), during the weekend to stress the need for the right combination of food to prevent lifestyle diseases, addressed some of the growing concerns in the field.
The Association, formed by a group with a scientific temperament, including professionals in medical, engineering, environment science, agriculture, genetics and other related fields, is one of its kind in the country, says S.S. Manjunath, vice-president of the association.
Food is aplenty now but it is not consumed in the right manner. It was pointed out during the two-day workshop that tomatoes should become part of daily food, since lycopene, a nutrient found in tomatoes, helps in preventing cancers. However, the availability of tomatoes does not ensure that it is taken by individuals everyday as part of the diet, said A. Sreekumar, president of INMA.
INMA aims to promote research awareness and education in nutrition, nutritional supplements, environment and related fields and its clinical applications for prevention and treatment of diseases.
Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/08/29/stories/2005082901550200.htm)
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