Food quality and human health: the human medicine point of view
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The link between diet and chronic diseases is very well documented. Contemporary medical research focuses on the prevention of major chronic diseases in order to reduce the current high cost of medical care. Nowadays, food is considered not only for its function of nourishing and satisfying the human senses but also, and particularly, as a tool for keeping people in an healthy status.
This paper reviews and critically analyses the latest issues of principal interest about health and human nutrition. In particular, our attention focuses on the qualities that modern human medicine requires from food: nutritional quality, safety (microbiological and chemical), and health promotion.
As regards nutritional quality and microbiological safety, Western countries have no serious problems to take into consideration. However, this is not the case when regarding chemical safety; the latter causes various problems related to the abuse of chemical substances used in agricultural activities and the insufficient role played bycontrolling authorities in establishing legal restrictions for some natural and synthetic toxic compounds present in foods.
The relation between food and health promotion is discussed in this paper, with particular attention on i) false convictions present among the public opinion, ii) food which, on the basis of scientific research, has been correlated to improved human health status, and iii) the modern approach of medicine to food as complementary to pharmacological therapy (functional foods).