\ec·lec·tic\ adj. selecting from various systems, doctrines, or styles. n. a person who uses various methods in philosophy, science, or art.
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RATINGS
Are
we what we eat? All health systems, complementary and conventional, include
dietary advice. Research into the effects of diet on the human body began early
in the 20th century, and led to the recognition of the importance of vitamins
and minerals in maintaining health. Embracing a wide range of approaches,
nutrition-based complementary therapies seek to alleviate physical and
psychological disorders through special diets and food supplements. Conventional
doctors acknowledge the benefits of a balanced diet, but tend to be skeptical
about the power of specific dietary regimes to treat disease.
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HISTORY Food and diet have had an important role in health care for millennia. Garlic, for example, was used to treat a wide variety of health problems throughout ancient Egypt and Greece. Modern clinical trials have since demonstrated garlic's ability to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and confirmed its antibacterial and antiviral properties. In the 18th century, the British navy prevented scurvy in sailors by feeding them limes and lemons, although the preventive agent, vitamin C, was not identified until 1928. In
the 19th century, proponents of the "nature cure" (a practice later
known as naturopathy) claimed that food could be used as medicine. Advances in
biochemistry in the 20th century led to a greater understanding of the need for
a balanced diet containing nutrients that included vitamins and minerals. The
term "vitamines" or "vital amines" was coined by a Polish
biochemist, Casimir Funk, working in London. In 1912 he suggested that minute
quantities of substances found in various foods were essential for health.
Within a few years, investigators discovered that pellagra, a disease whose
psychological symptoms resembled schizophrenia, could be cured with large doses
of niacin (vitamin B3). Further research isolated the fat-soluble
vitamins A, D, E, and K, and the water-soluble vitamins C and B complex.
The
role of antioxidants in maintaining health, preventing and treating disease,
and delaying the aging process has only recently become well understood. Other
nutritional topics making headlines in the 1980s and 1990s include the
importance of dietary fiber in digestion, the detrimental effects of food
additives, cholesterol and other fats, and pesticides on the body, and the
discovery of natural estrogens, or phytoestrogens, in soy. Public health bodies
worldwide now recognize the value of diet in maintaining a healthy population
and reducing the burden on health services.
KEY PRINCIPLES
The
links between disease and poor diet have long been recognized, and some medical
doctors specialize in nutrition. Together with nutritional therapists, who are
not medically qualified, they use diet and nutritional supplements to prevent
and treat disease. All practitioners believe that good health is directly related
to the quality of the food eaten by the individual. For example, food grown in
poor soil will lack nutrients, crops sprayed with pesticides could contain
toxic chemicals, and antibiotics given to livestock may find their way into the
human bloodstream. Although there is an overabundance of fresh food in the
West, many people prefer to eat highly processed "junk" foods, from
which nutrients have been stripped, and as a result their diets may become
deficient in essential vitamins and minerals.
Both
medically qualified nutritionists and practitioners of nutritional therapy seek
to explore every avenue by which a patient's nutrition can be improved to
promote maximum health. In general, treatment is said to improve the patient's
mood, fitness, and well-being, and delay aging. Practitioners look for
nutritional deficiencies, for allergies or intolerances to food, and for
environmental factors, which can cause poor digestion or absorption in the
stomach and intestines, preventing nutrients from reaching the bloodstream.
Other factors are said to include "toxic overload" from an excess of
heavy metals or environmental chemicals, and problems with the balance of gut
flora, which complementary practitioners often refer to as
"dysbiosis."
EVIDENCE & RESEARCH
Research
linking nutrition and health is substantial. Many studies associate excessive
fat intake with cancers of the breast, prostate, colon, and rectum, and colon
cancer in particular is linked with a diet that is too low in fiber.
In
a study at the University of Cambridge and Papworth Hospital in the UK,
reported in The Lancet in 1996, large supplements of vitamin E,
an antioxidant, slowed down the process of underlying arterial disease in
angina patients.
A
study reported in The Lancet in 1994 found that the "Cretan
Mediterranean diet" reduced the incidence of secondary heart attacks by
70%. This diet is low in saturated fats and red meat, and high in plant foods,
olive oil (which lowers harmful cholesterol levels), and oily fish (containing
an essential fatty acid).
Antioxidants
given to 30,000 people in Linxian province in China over a five-year
period resulted in a 20% drop in stomach and esophageal cancer, according to
research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1993.
A
study at Epsom District Hospital in Surrey, in the UK, published in 1993 in
the British Journal of Rheumatology, indicated a possible link between
rheumatoid arthritis and food intolerances.
Other
dietary supplements with strong clinical support include folic acid (taken by
pregnant women to help prevent neural tube defects and reduce the risk of cleft
palate in babies), magnesium (shown to alleviate pre-eclampsia in pregnancy, a
condition characterized by high blood pressure and fluid retention), and
vitamin B6 (helpful in treating FMS). MEDICAL OPINION
Most doctors are open-minded about the role of nutrition in preventing illness, although there is much interest in the potential of certain diets to reduce the risk of cancer. Doctors are more skeptical about the effectiveness of nutrition as treatment for illness, except in the case of specific conditions, such as gout, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, and to a lesser extent, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, and eczema. There is widespread acceptance among doctors of the benefits of the Cretan Mediterranean diet, which can help prevent heart disease. CONSULTING A PRACTITIONERSome
doctors specialize in using nutritional approaches to the treatment of illness,
often as one aspect of their interest in clinical ecology. Non-medically
qualified nutritional therapists will usually be trained in nutrition,
physiology, biochemistry, pathology, naturopathic techniques, and the
principles of clinical ecology. You may decide to consult a nutritional
therapist if you have unexplained, long-term symptoms for which conventional
medicine finds no cause - for example, fatigue, headaches, bloating, and skin
or digestive problems.
Nutritional
therapists believe that you can be lacking in essential nutrients even if your
diet is healthy. Before beginning treatment, the practitioner may ask you to
complete a questionnaire about your current diet, medical history, and
symptoms. You may be asked how much you drink or smoke, and about your exercise
habits, your emotional state, and any medication you are currently taking. He
may also request that you keep a diary of typical food intake over
approximately three days.
The
practitioner also examines the condition of your skin, hands, and other
features; these can provide important clues about nutritional intake.
Nutritional therapists (and some medically qualified nutritionists) often use
other diagnostic techniques to determine nutritional deficiencies and food
allergies. These may include tests on samples of your hair, urine, and sweat,
and muscle testing, or applied kinesiology. You may be required to follow an exclusion
or elimination diet, cutting out suspect foods progressively over a period of
several weeks until a food allergy or intolerance is detected. Some nutritional
therapists use Vega testing, in which you are connected to an electrical device
that is designed to indicate the presence of allergens.
Using
the test results, and taking into account factors such as your age and sex, the
practitioner develops a dietary regime tailored to your needs. PRECAUTIONS
• Check
with your doctor before beginning a course of nutrient supplements if you are
taking medication; they may be incompatible.
•
Excessive doses of vitamins A, D, E,
and B6 and zinc may have toxic side effects. Do not take high doses
of vitamins or minerals without consulting your doctor or a nutritionist who is
also a doctor.
•
Do not follow a strict diet for long
periods without the supervision of your doctor or a nutritionist who is also a
doctor.
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Compatibility
