[pronut-hiv] Thought for Food: 2400-Year-Old Advice for Today's Worldwide Weight Crisis

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 >From Medscape General Medicine*
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Thought for Food: 2400-Year-Old Advice for Today's Worldwide Weight Crisis
Posted 08/18/2005
Val Jones, MD, MA  
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/510200

"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.[1]" Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, made this suggestion over 2400 years ago, and yet most physicians today have not received sufficient nutrition education during their medical training.[1-3] Somewhere along the way, doctors have gotten sidetracked. Maybe it's the pursuit of "cure-all" pills that has us racing towards the next magic promise, or perhaps the thrill of a new discovery is more exciting than revisiting the power of vegetables?

The problem is that poor eating habits are at the root of one of the worst disease epidemics of recent times, namely, obesity. Research over the past few decades has shed light on the causes of obesity, and substantial work has been done on dietary recommendations for reversing it. Yet as many as 80% to 95% of Americans regain all the weight they lose in the time it took them to lose it.[4] This means 2 things: (1) We're pretty good at losing weight, and (2) we're pretty bad at keeping it off. So for anyone out there feeling defeated about extra weight, you are certainly not alone.

This new Clinical Nutrition & Obesity eSection was borne out of MedGenMed's readership demand. Now is your chance to contribute to the growing body of research that addresses the worldwide weight crisis. I invite your submissions of original research articles, clinical trials, reviews, and informed commentaries, because I believe that an increase in knowledge can result in an increase in health and a decrease in waistbands.

That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Val Jones, Editor of MedGenMed's eSection on Clinical Nutrition & Obesity.

References
Hippocrates (c. 460-400 BC).
Cooksey K, Kohlmeier M, Plaisted C, et al. Getting nutrition education into medical schools: a computer-based approach. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72(suppl):868S-876S.
Lo C. Integrating nutrition as a theme throughout the medical school curriculum. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72(suppl):882S-889S.
Hill JO. From an interview with PBS, January 29, 2004. Available at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/interviews/hill.html Accessed August 11, 2005.
 
 Val Jones, MD, MA, Founding Editor, Clinical Nutrition & Obesity, Medscape General Medicine; Chief Resident, Rehabilitation Medicine, Saint Vincent's Hospital, New York, NY. Email: vjones@medscape.net