The fact that many foods and culinary ingredients eaten and used in daily life have specific therapeutic applications, either in the prevention of disease or as a potential remedy, is not a recent discovery. Some foods have a long history of use as folk medicines throughout most parts of the world - corn, for example, was used by the Aztecs as a medicine for the heart; the medicinal uses of garlic, of which there are many, were mentioned in Chinese texts as long ago as around A.D. 500. Today, there is an ever-increasing knowledge about why a particular food may work for some conditions but not for others, knowledge that is the result of scientific analysis of the constituents of foods.
The therapeutic actions of natural foods and ingredients arise from the nutrients and other complex chemicals of which they are composed, and which have a direct effect on the body. Of the nutrients, the most widely known are the vitamins and minerals. These are the substances that we hear most about, particularly in connection with the debate about supplements - whether we get enough of all the nutrients by eating a balanced diet, or whether, for a variety of reasons, there are some nutrients we lack and should supplement by taking the appropriate tablet or pill to make up any deficiency.
The therapeutic actions of natural foods and ingredients arise from the nutrients and other complex chemicals of which they are composed, and which have a direct effect on the body. Of the nutrients, the most widely known are the vitamins and minerals. These are the substances that we hear most about, particularly in connection with the debate about supplements - whether we get enough of all the nutrients by eating a balanced diet, or whether, for a variety of reasons, there are some nutrients we lack and should supplement by taking the appropriate tablet or pill to make up any deficiency.
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