Prevention Through Nutrition

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The field of nutrition science is complex in that a large number of factors interact to produce an outcome of interest. For example, the potency of a nutrient is determined by the genetic makeup, age, and health status of the host;1 by the bioavailability of the nutrient, which is affected by conditions associated with growing, harvesting, storing, and preparing food for consumption;2 and by the timing, frequency, and duration of dose and contextual factors (e.g., foods, medications, and diseases that aid or hinder absorption3). Although traditional linear, reductionist methods have contributed greatly to our understanding of nutritional factors and their contribution to various diseases, the ability of these methods to examine complex reciprocal relationships between, for example, dietary intake, activity levels, and manifestation of disease, is limited. Systems-based approaches enable study of the complex ways that nutrition interacts with genetic and environmental factors to influence the risk of chronic diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, and combines data from several complementary disciplines to explain the development of these diseases.4,5,6 To discuss the application of systems-based approaches to the study of nutrition and metabolic health, leading researchers in genetics, physiology, microbiology, epidemiology, and behavioral sciences convened at the conference “Nutrition and the science of disease prevention: a systems approach to support metabolic health,” held on April 16, 2015 and presented by the Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science at the New York Academy of Sciences.

This report provides an overview of the topics presented at the conference, with a focus on (1) the basic science of optimal metabolic health, including data from gene–diet interactions, microbiome, and epidemiological research in nutrition, with the goal of defining better targets and interventions, and (2) how nutrition, from pharma to lifestyle, can build on systems science to address complex issues. That’s just the logic talk of Prevention Through Nutrition .. Factors for preventable chronic diseases: tobacco use, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, and excessive alcohol use.

Good nutrition is essential for keeping Men, Women , Children from across the Globe healthy for a lifespan. A healthy diet helps children grow and develop properly and reduces their risk of chronic diseases, including obesity. Adults who eat a healthy diet live longer and have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Healthy eating can help people with chronic diseases manage these conditions and prevent complications.

Most People , however, do not have a healthy diet. Although breastfeeding is the ideal source of nutrition for infants, only 1 in 4 is exclusively breastfed through 6 months of age as recommended. Fewer than 1 in 10 adults and adolescents eat enough fruits and vegetables, and 9 in 10 across the globe aged 2 years or older consume more than the recommended amount of sodium. If they are in living healthy stable home ( It can differ due to the Country and Culture.

Eating a healthy diet, along with getting enough physical activity and sleep, can help children grow up healthy and prevent overweight and obesity. In the United States, 19% of young people aged 2 to 19 years and 40% of adults have obesity, which can put them at risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. In addition, obesity costs just the US health care system $147 billion a year. That’s just in the Freaking United States , Imagine the rest of the World !

Two of the leading causes of heart disease and stroke are high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol. Consuming too much sodium can increase blood pressure and the risk for heart disease and stroke. Current guidelines recommend getting less than 2,300 mg a day, but Americans consume more than 3,400 mg a day on average.

Over 70% of the sodium that Americans eat comes from packaged, processed, store-bought, and restaurant foods. Eating foods low in saturated fats and high in fiber and increasing access to low-sodium foods, along with regular physical activity, can help prevent high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure.

People who are overweight or have obesity are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes compared to those at a normal weight because, over time, their bodies become less able to use the insulin they make. Of US adults, 88 million—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes, and more than 8 in 10 of them don’t know they have it. Although incidence has decreased in recent years, the number of adults with diagnosed diabetes has nearly doubled in the last 2 decades as the US population has increased, aged, and  more overweight.

An unhealthy diet can increase the risk of some cancers. Overweight and obesity are associated with at least 13 types of cancer, including endometrial (uterine) cancer, breast cancer in postmenopausal women, and colorectal cancer. These cancers make up 40% of all cancers diagnosed.