Food, Nutrition and Preventive Medicine

Volume 1 - Issue 3

Elevina Perez Sira¹*, Frederick Schroeder² and Mily Monascal³

Received: June 01, 2018;   Published: June 08, 2018

DOI: 10.32474/SJFN.2018.01.000112

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Abstract

A person’s diet choice is related not only to their biological needs and the availability to the foods, but also to the customs, aspirations, and expectations of their societies. The quantity and quality of the food consumed, the choice of them, and the cultural gastronomies surrounding eating habits have varied throughout history and culture. Moreover, there are consumers that need special requirements for their nutrition to prevent or control diseases. In this context, the consumers could be classified as -common or conservative consumers, -conservative consumers with special regimes due to age, cultural, or religious conditions, (which include infants, vegetarians and vegans, sports, old age, among others), and consumers with physiological and metabolic disorders that are controlled or prevented with special food regimes as well.

In regards to this classification that involve the concept of preventive medicine, it is imperative to select the appropriate food in the diet in order to prevent or control diseases that shall help the progress of the food safety. Hippocrates of Cos (5th century BC - 4th century BC,) was already prematurely involved with the idea of preventive medicine. He postulated “Let food be your best medicine and your best medicine be your food. “It was the first idea conceived regarding special diet regimes; as consequence of observing the environmental causes of illness, emphasizing not only diet, but also general aspects of the patient’s life and how this Influences their health and convalescence. Joint WHO/NHD in 2016 throughout of the food standards program Codex committee on nutrition and foods for special regimes, have postulated the 5 keys to a healthy diet: Breastfeed babies and young children, eat a variety of foods, eat plenty of vegetables and fruit, eat moderate amounts of fats and oils, and eat less salt and sugars. At that context, adequate choice of foods in the diet could be the solution of the future health of any type of consumer, but there are few contributions to this area by food industry. Few or nothing prepared foods are offered for this market, to fill the kind of food they are needing. The article will deal with all of these concepts and will review the perceptions of the theme in literature.

Keywords: Nutrition and health; Diets for special regimes; Special regimes foods

Abbreviations: WHO: World Health Organization; NCDs: Non-Communicable Diseases; CD: Celiac Disease; HLA: Human Leukocyte Antigen; PKU: Phenylketonuria

Abstract| Introduction| Classification of Consumers| Common and Conservative Consumers: Definition and Description| Consumers with Special Diets Regimes. Definition and Description| Conclusion| References|