What we eat, how we eat, where we eat, and when we eat are deeply embedded cultural practices. Eating is also related to how we medicate. The multimillion-dollar diet industry offers advice on how to eat for a better body and longer life, and avoiding harmful foods (or choosing healthy ones) is considered separate from consuming medicine--another multimillion-dollar industry. In contrast, most traditional medical systems view food as inseparable from medicine and regard medicinal foods as the front line of healing. Drawing on medical texts and food therapy practices from around the world and throughout history, Nancy N. Chen locates old and new crossovers between food and medicine in different social and cultural contexts. The consumption of spices, sugar, and salt was once linked to specific healing properties, and trade in these commodities transformed not just the political economy of Europe, Asia, and the New World but local tastes and food practices as well. Today's technologies are rapidly changing traditional attitudes toward food, enabling the cultivation of new admixtures, such as nutraceuticals and genetically modified food, that link food to medicine in novel ways. Chen considers these developments against the evolving food regimes of the diet industry in order to build a framework for understanding diet as individual practice, social prescription, and political formation.

A holistic approach to healing through making smart food choices by health guru Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa that combines spiritual advice and integrative medicine to provide healthful recipes and nutrition plans targeting common and chronic illnesses for a longer, healthier, natural life. Did you know that blueberries can increase brain longevity? That kiwi fruit can be an excellent weapon for battling cancer and heart disease? That pears can help prevent fibroid tumors? From the bestselling author of Meditation as Medicine, comes a remarkable book that helps you achieve maximum health by eating well. Grounded in science, Food as Medicine is a pragmatic and accessible reference that sets readers on the right nutritional path. Dr. Khalsa then explains how to use natural organic juices and foods as medicine, and how food can help reverse the progress or diminish the symptoms of certain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Hepatitis C. Drawing on patient case histories, Food as Medicine outlines the seven principles of "The Khalsa Plan" for healthy eating, details ailment-specific nutritional plans, and lays out dozens of delicious recipes that promote overall well-being. After all, food is not only the original medicine -- it's the best medicine.

Written by a groundbreaking figure of modern medical study, Tracking Medicine is an eye-opening introduction to the science of health care delivery, as well as a powerful argument for its relevance in shaping the future of our country. An indispensable resource for those involved in public health and health policy, this book uses Dr. Wennberg's pioneering research to provide a framework for understanding the health care crisis; and outlines a roadmap for real change in the future. It is also a useful tool for anyone interested in understanding and forming their own opinion on the current debate.

The Mesoamerican population who lived near the indigenous cultivation sites of the "Chocolate Tree" (Theobromo cacao) had a multitude of documented applications of chocolate as medicine, ranging from alleviating fatigue to preventing heart ailments to treating snakebite. Until recently, these applications have received little sound scientific scrutiny. Rather, it has been the reputed health claims stemming from Europe and the United States which have attracted considerable biomedical attention. This book, for the first time, describes the centuries-long quest to uncover chocolate's potential health benefits. The authors explore variations in the types of evidence used to support chocolate's use as medicine as well as note the ongoing tension over categorizing chocolate as food or medicine, and more recently, as functional food or nutraceutical. The authors, Wilson an historian of science and medicine, and Hurst an analytical chemist in the chocolate industry, bring their collective insights to bear upon the development of ideas and practices surrounding the use of chocolate as medicine. Chocolate's use in this manner is explored first among the Mesoamerican peoples, then as it is transported to Europe, and back into Colonial North America. The authors then focus upon more recent bioscience experimental undertakings which have been aimed to ascertain both long-standing and novel suggestions as to chocolate's efficacy as a medicinal and a nutritional substance. Chocolate/s reputation as the most craved food boosts this book's appeal to food and biomedical scientists, cacao researchers, ethnobotanists, historians, folklorists, and healers of all types as well as to the general reading audience.

From gluten-free to all-Paleo, GMOs to grass-fed beef, our newsfeeds abound with nutrition advice. Whether sensational headlines from the latest study or anecdotes from celebrities and food bloggers, we're bombarded with "superfoods" and "best ever" diets promising to help us lose weight, fight disease, and live longer. At the same time, we live in an over-crowded food environment that makes it easy to eat, all the time. The result is an epidemic of chronic disease amidst a culture of nutrition confusion-and copious food choices that challenge everyday eaters just trying to get a healthy meal on the table. But the exhilarating truth is that scientists know an astounding amount about the power of food. A staggering 80% of chronic diseases are preventable through modifiable lifestyle changes, and diet is the single largest contributing factor. And we also know the secrets to eating sustainably to protect our planet. In Food & Nutrition, Harvard- and Columbia-trained nutrition scientist Dr. P.K. Newby examines 134 stand-alone questions addressing "need to know" topics, including how what we eat affects our health and environment, from farm to fork, and why, when it comes to diet, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts-and one size doesn't fit all. At the same time, Newby debunks popular myths and food folklore, encouraging readers to "learn, unlearn, and relearn" the fundamentals of nutrition at the heart of a health-giving diet. Her passion for all things food shines through it all, as does her love of the power of science, technology, and engineering to help create healthier diets for ourselves, and a more sustainable future for the planet we share.

A refreshingly candid and vulnerable journey into our link with food, Madison Madden takes us on a pilgrimage from childhood dietary lessons to our deepest culinary desires and beyond. Its audacious yet compassionate tone, inspired by the author's personal triumphs over an eating disorder and chronic digestive issues, ignites hope for those struggling to break free of constraining habits and belief systems. Citing digestible wisdom from the ancient practice of Ayurveda, Madden offers an opportunity to transform our most intimate relationship - the one we have with ourselves, and what we choose to eat.

• National Bestseller • You can live a full, happy, and healthy life without ever feeling excluded or deprived. When doctors told Danielle Walker that food didn’t cause her autoimmune disease and couldn’t help control it, she set out to prove them wrong. Diagnosed with an extreme form of ulcerative colitis at 22, Danielle was terrified she’d never be able to eat all the wonderful, great-tasting foods she loved growing up or host warm, welcoming gatherings with family and friends. So when the medicine she was prescribed became almost as debilitating as the disease itself, Danielle took matters into her own hands, turned her kitchen into a laboratory, and set to work creating gut-healthy versions of the foods she thought she’d never be able to enjoy again. Three New York Times bestselling cookbooks later, Danielle has become a beacon of hope for millions around the world suffering from autoimmune diseases, food allergies, and chronic ailments. Now for the first time, with stunning transparency about the personal toll her illness took on her physically, emotionally, and spiritually, Danielle reflects on everything she’s learned during her decade-long journey toward healing—including the connection between gut health and overall well-being, the development of her favorite recipes, and the keys for not simply surviving her autoimmune disease but thriving despite it. Through her resilience, Danielle tells a story that provides hope—hope that despite your ailments or hardships, you can live a full, happy, and healthy life without ever feeling excluded or deprived. Food saved Danielle Walker. And it can save you, too. Includes six fan-favorite recipes and the stories behind them!

Food As Medicine: Traditional Chinese Medicine-Inspired Healthy Eating Principles with Action Guide, Worksheet, and 10-Week Meal Plan to Restore Health, Beauty, and MindWhat's your definition of "food"? It does not only fuel the body, but also nourish and help heal your body to help you more effectively achieve everything else in life. In reality, the therapeutic part of food is rarely talked about in the west. The importance of foods has been underestimated or even ignored. That's why this book is born. This book is about digging deeper into the therapeutic aspects in foods that you may not have heard of yet; it is also about choosing to eat with consciousness and exploring how food can serve as medicine to help heal the body; most importantly, it is about deepening the relationship with your own body, because you cannot improve health unless you understand your body and know what to pick accordingly to strengthen health, slow down aging process, deal with health concerns, and prevent diseases your body is prone to. Specifically, you will learn: What is Food Therapy after all? Where do these dietary ideas come from? Why is it different from other dietary approaches you have heard of? How can it help restore your health, beauty, and mind? How can you get started, so that you don't get lost in the wealth of knowledge (in other words, how to take actions immediately)? More than 40 recipes to help you kick off your journey Grab a copy today to experience start experiencing how foods can be served as medicine to help you restore health and beauty!

With new chapters on key topics such as mental health, the environment, race, ethnicity and health, and pharmaceuticals, this new edition maintains its multidisciplinary framework and bridges the gap between health policy and the sociology of health. It builds upon the success of the first by encompassing a range of issues, studies, and disciplines. The broad coverage of topics in addition to new chapters present an engagement with contemporary issues, resulting in a valuable teaching aid. This second edition brings together a diverse range of leading international scholars with contributors from Australia, Puerto-Rico, USA, Guatemala, Germany, Sri Lanka, Botswana, UK, South Sudan, Mexico, South Korea, Canada and more. The second edition of this Handbook remains a key resource for undergraduates, post-graduates, and researchers across multidisciplinary backgrounds including: medicine, health and social care, sociology, and anthropology. PART ONE: Culture, Society and Health PART TWO: Lived Experiences PART THREE: Health Care Systems, Access and Use PART FOUR: Health in Environmental and Planetary Context

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2016 Food and Health in Early Modern Europe is both a history of food practices and a history of the medical discourse about that food. It is also an exploration of the interaction between the two: the relationship between evolving foodways and shifting medical advice on what to eat in order to stay healthy. It provides the first in-depth study of printed dietary advice covering the entire early modern period, from the late-15th century to the early-19th; it is also the first to trace the history of European foodways as seen through the prism of this advice. David Gentilcore offers a doctor's-eye view of changing food and dietary fashions: from Portugal to Poland, from Scotland to Sicily, not forgetting the expanding European populations of the New World. In addition to exploring European regimens throughout the period, works of materia medica, botany, agronomy and horticulture are considered, as well as a range of other printed sources, such as travel accounts, cookery books and literary works. The book also includes 30 illustrations, maps and extensive chapter bibliographies with web links included to further aid study. Food and Health in Early Modern Europe is the essential introduction to the relationship between food, health and medicine for history students and scholars alike.