Food

Food is any substance consumed by living organisms, including liquid drinks{{fn|1}}. Food is the main source of energy and of nutrition for animals, and is usually of animal or plant origin.

Food and health

Food sufficiency

Food deprivation leads to malnutrition and ultimately starvation. This is often connected with famine, which involves the absence of food in entire communities. This can have a devastating and widespread effect on human health and mortality. In 2003 it was estimated that each year, 40 million people die of hunger worldwide. Rationing is sometimes used to fairly distribute food in times of shortage, most notably during times of war.

Related Topics:
Malnutrition - Starvation - Famine - 2003 - Year - Hunger - Rationing

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Food deprivation is regarded as a deficit need in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and is measured using famine scales.

Related Topics:
Maslow's hierarchy of needs - Famine scales

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Food aid

Food aid can benefit people suffering from a shortage of food. Conversely, badly managed food aid can cause problems by disrupting local markets, depressing crop prices and discouraging food production. Its provision, or threatened withdrawal, is sometimes used as a political tool to influence the politics of the destination country. International efforts to distribute food to the neediest countries are co-ordinated by the World Food Programme.

Related Topics:
Food aid - Crop - Politics - World Food Programme

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:See also: Fair trade, food security.

Related Topics:
Fair trade - Food security

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Food safety

Foodborne illness, commonly called "food poisoning," is caused by bacteria, toxins, viruses and prions. Food poisoning has been recognised as a disease of man since as early as Hippocrates. Murder by food poisoning was used during the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages all Royal Courts had food tasters.

Related Topics:
Foodborne illness - Bacteria - Toxin - Virus - Prion - Food poisoning - Hippocrates - Roman Empire - Middle Ages - Royal Court

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The sale of rancid, contaminated or adulterated food was commonplace until introduction of hygiene, refrigeration, and vermin controls in the 19th century. Discovery of techniques for killing bacteria using heat and other microbiological studies by scientists such as Louis Pasteur contributed to the modern sanitation standards that we enjoy today. This was further underpinned by the work of Justus von Liebig whose work led to the development of modern food storage and food preservation methods.

Related Topics:
Rancid - Hygiene - Refrigeration - Vermin - 19th century - Bacteria - Heat - Microbiological - Louis Pasteur - Justus von Liebig - Food storage - Food preservation

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The two most common factors leading to cases of bacterial foodborne illness are cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food from other uncooked foods and improper temperature control.

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Less commonly, acute adverse reactions can also occur if chemical contamination of food occurs, for example from improper storage, or use of non-food grade soaps and disinfectants. Food can also be adulterated by a very wide range of articles (known as 'foreign bodies') during farming, manufacture, cooking, packaging, distribution or sale. For example, pests (or their feces), hairs, cigarette butts, wood chips, metal shards, plasters etc.

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Understanding of the causes of food-borne-illnesses and more systematic techniques for their elimination has led to the development of commercial systems such as HACCP which can, if properly implemented, identify and eliminate many, but not all, possible risks. HACCP is well suited to identifying and controlling these potential food safety risks.

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Food allergies

Some people have food allergies or sensitivities to foods which are otherwise wholesome to the majority of people.

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The amount of the food substance required to provoke a reaction in a susceptible individual can be minute. For instance, tiny amounts of food in the air, too minute to be smelled, have been known to provoke lethal reactions in sufficiently sensitive individuals. In theory, any food may provoke a reaction, however, this most commonly involves gluten, corn, shellfish (mollusks), peanuts, and soy.

Related Topics:
Minute - Gluten - Peanut - Soy

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Most patients present with diarrhea after ingesting certain foodstuffs, skin symptoms (rashes), bloating, vomiting and regurgitation. The digestive complaints usually develop within half an hour of ingesting the allergen.

Related Topics:
Diarrhea - Food - Rash - Vomit - Regurgitation - Allergen

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Rarely, food allergy can lead to anaphylactic shock: hypotension (low blood pressure) and loss of consciousness. This is a medical emergency. An allergen associated with this type of reaction is peanut, although latex products can induce similar reactions. Initial treatment is with epinephrine (adrenaline), often carried by known patients in the form of an Epi-pen.

Related Topics:
Anaphylactic shock - Hypotension - Medical emergency - Peanut - Latex - Epinephrine - Epi-pen

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Food allergy is thought to develop easier in patients with the atopic syndrome, a very common combination of diseases: allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, eczema and asthma. The syndrome has a strong inherited component; a family history of these diseases can be indicative of the atopic syndrome.

Related Topics:
Atopic syndrome - Allergic rhinitis - Conjunctivitis - Eczema - Asthma

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: See also: Food intolerance

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Dietary habits

Dietary habits play a significant role in the health and mortality of all humans. For example:

Related Topics:
Dietary habits - Health - Mortality

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• Eating disorders are a group of mental disorders that interfere with normal food consumption. They often affect people with a negative body image;
• 13% of the world's population suffer from Iodine deficiency;
• In 2003 it was estimated that vitamin A deficiency causes blindness in up to 500,000 children each year;
• Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy;
• Calcium, Vitamin D and Phosphorus are inter-related. The consumption of each may affect the absorption of the others.
• Kwashiorkor and marasmus are childhood disorders caused by lack of dietary protein.
• Obesity, a serious problem in the western world, leads to higher chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and many other diseases.

Concerns about foodborne illness have long influenced diet. Traditionally humans have learned to avoid foods that induce acute illness. Some believe that this is the underlying rationale behind some traditional religious dietary requirements. Additionally, many people choose to forgo food from animal sources to varying degrees; see vegetarianism, veganism, fruitarianism, living foods diet, and raw foodism.

Related Topics:
Acute - Vegetarianism - Veganism - Fruitarianism - Living foods diet - Raw foodism

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The nutrient content of diets in industrialised countries contain more animal fat, sugar, energy, alcohol and less dietary fiber, carbohydrates and antioxidants. Contemporary changes to work, family and exercise patterns, together with concerns about the effect of nutrition and overeating on human health and mortality are all having an effect on traditional eating habits. Physicians and alternative medicine practitioners may recommend changes to diet as part of their recommendations for treatment.

Related Topics:
Animal fat - Energy - Alcohol - Dietary fiber - Carbohydrate - Antioxidant - Work - Family - Exercise - Nutrition - Health - Physician - Alternative medicine

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More recently, dietary habits have been influenced by the concerns that some people have about the chronic impact on health that arise through the consumption of genetically modified food. Further concerns about the impact of industrial farming on animal welfare, human health and the environment are also having an effect on contemporary human dietary habits. This has led to the emergence of a counterculture with a preference for organic and local food.

Related Topics:
Chronic - Genetically modified food - Animal welfare - Environment - Counterculture - Organic - Local food

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:See also: Food faddism, Health claims on food labels, list of diets, Slow Food.

Related Topics:
Food faddism - Health claims on food labels - List of diets - Slow Food

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Nutrients in food

• Calcium
• Carbohydrate
• Essential amino acids
• Fat
• Iron
• Minerals
• Phytochemicals, including anti-oxidants, enzymes, bio-flavinoids
• Potassium
• Protein
• Sodium
• Starch
• Vitamins
• Water

Knowledge about the nutritional components and the interactions of these components in human metabolism for an ideal diet is an expanding area of knowledge.

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