What is Nutrition? What first comes to mind
when asked this question? Is it healthy eating and proper diet? Is it getting fit and active?
For most of us, we are surrounded with a narrow idea of‘ Nutrition,’ which is associated primarily with diets, exercise, weight loss and beauty enhancements.
This is not surprising, as the media and popular culture have reduced‘ Nutrition’ to merely a means to“ get healthy”. This is not entirely false; since healthy food lies at the heart of‘ Nutrition’; it is the common bond that holds together the integral, diverse and seemingly endless elements that make up‘ Nutrition’. However, our hope, in this article and throughout this Issue, is to define‘ Nutrition’ in all its complexities by going beyond the limited notion of our current understanding.
Our definition of‘ Nutrition’ can be paralleled to the notion in physics called‘ The Theory of Everything’.
Put simply, it is a theory that is thought to explain all the fundamental physical forces in the universe and its interconnectedness. Similarly, we propose‘ The Nutrition of Everything’. A notion that is meant to expand‘ Nutrition’ as interconnected elements that make up and affect our lives.
Like fundamental physical forces, the elements of‘ Nutrition’ are numerous and multifaceted.
Nevertheless, we can identify four main elements I would like to highlight:
( 1) pediatrics( 2) aging( 3) policy,
( 4) genetics.
Pediatrics and aging are aspects of‘ Nutrition’ that most people immediately think of, as it plays a role from the moment of birth until death. The effect of diet beginning at birth is critical in determining the quality and length of life. Over our lifetimes,‘ Nutrition’ heavily dictates how we can live a long and healthy life. It is often concerned with our daily diet, weight loss or weight gain regimens, and natural beauty enhancements.
On a larger scale,‘ Nutrition’ is involved in chronic disease prevention and treatment, where diet is linked with global epidemics such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
The third prong of‘ Nutrition’ is public policy. Policy informs institutions of evidencebased research and developments that endeavour to strengthen and improve population health. Governments create regulations based on policy considerations. Although often not initially associated with‘ Nutrition’, it is a key aspect for systemic improvement in the health of the population.
Issue 3 | Nutrition of Everything | 2