Preface

Healthy lifestyles and dietary changes have become a major global custom and represent in business a trillion-dollar-plus market. Regrettably, this tendency is related to a dramatic global rise in lifestyle related ailments. Nutrition; therefore, plays an important role in human health, and education on the role of nutrition healthy life and disease management should be an integral part of healthcare professional programs. The level and type of nutrition are influenced by multiple factors including cultural background, education, environmental conditions, and socio-economic status. Other factors include physical activity, food habits, and disrupted biological clocks. The impact of these elements has been linked to risk of developing chronic diseases. Concomitantly, adequate nutrition and the application of pharmaconutrition concepts could optimally manage these diseases. The focus of this book is to cover nutrition concepts important for health promotion and disease prevention supported by applications using real-life scenarios to put these principles to use immediately and have a foundation to adapt to newer concepts of nutrition that would improve their individual health as well as their relatives, friends and patients. The content of this book also provides concepts that can be used for the integration of a nutrition-based therapeutic plan into the daily assessment of patients for disease prevention and treatment. Chapters of this book include content on macronutrients, micronutrients and their main sources; dietary guidelines and major components of a healthy diet; impact of socio-economic and cultural factors in diet, nutrition, and disease risk; malnutrition; the influence of disease on nutrient metabolism; the role of inflammation in response to nutritional interventions and specific nutrition principles applied to cardiac, gastrointestinal, diabetes and dyslipidemia diseases. To reflect on the content, the authors have included applications of nutritional requirements and patient cases as a way to facilitate the use of nutrition concepts in healthcare by healthcare professionals. The final goal of the book is to provide information on the possible role of a balanced and integrated diet to maintain good health; to prevent, manage, and treat diseases; and to describe how factors such as education, status, environmental conditions, and cultural background influence nutritional choices and health-related risks. All the topics are discussed with a rational, scientific approach. The individual that successfully integrates the knowledge in this book and completes the exercises correctly should be able to assess an individual’s diet, make suggestions for lifestyle and dietary changes that promote health, educate the public on a healthy diet as well as recognize individuals at risk of malnutrition.