The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine, Second Edition

Diane Kraft

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429942501
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

Reprising The 2017 American Library Association Outstanding Academic Title award-winning A-Z Guide to Food As Medicine, this new edition explores the physiological effects of more than 250 foods, food groups, nutrients, and phytochemicals in entries that include:

• Definition and background information such as traditional medicinal use, culinary facts, and dietary intake and deficiency information
  
• Scientific findings on the physiological effects of foods, food groups, and food constituents
  
• Bioactive dose when known, such as nutrient Dietary Reference Intakes focusing on 19-to-50-year-old individuals
  
• Safety highlights, such as nutrient Tolerable Upper Intake Levels

A health professional's comprehensive nutrition handbook that includes all nutrients, nutrient functions, "good" and "excellent" sources of nutrients, nutrient assessment, and deficiency symptoms, as well as summaries of foods, food groups, and phytochemicals.

New to the Second Edition:

• Disease- and condition-focused Index that leads readers to foods used to manage specific conditions and diseases
• Focus on practical recommendations for health maintenance and disease prevention, including tables, insets, and updated scientific findings on more than a dozen new foods
• Accompanying teaching aids and lesson plans available online at http://www.crcpress.com

Features:

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• Dictionary-style summaries of the physiological effects of foods, food groups, nutrients, and phytochemicals alphabetically listed for quick access

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• Approximately 60 B & W images of foods; informational tables and insets that define or illustrate concepts such as drug terminologies, classes of phytochemicals, and medicinal aspects of foods and of a plant-based diet

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• Over 1, 000 scientific references from peer-reviewed sources, including The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence Analysis Library, and position statements of major health organizations

I

Inulin

Definition

Fermentable carbohydrate (classified as a fructooligosaccharide or fructan) found in plant foods, such as asparagus, bananas, chicory, dandelion, garlic, Globe artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, leeks, onions, wheat bran, and wheat flour, that is a prebiotic.^1] The average American eats 2.6 g of insulin daily.² Fermentable carbohydrates may produce gas, bloating, pain, and other undesirable GI symptoms.

Scientific Findings

Inulin improves laxation by increasing stool bulk, water content, and certain fecal bacteria, and may strengthen the intestinal epithelium possibly reducing the risk of gastrointestinal diseases.^3,4 Inulin dosed at 15 g daily improved stool frequency in constipated elderly individuals (n = 25) in a 28-day randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial (n = 252).⁵ Gut microbiota improved in inulin-supplemented (0.8 g/dL) formula-fed newborn infants compared to breastfed infants in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial lasting for four months.⁶ See also: Fructan.

Bioactive Dose

For treatment of constipation in the elderly, 20–40 g daily for 19 days has been used.⁷

Safety

Presumed safe when consumed in normal dietary quantities by nonallergic individuals. People with inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis), irritable bowel syndrome, and an estimated 20% of people with celiac disease, could minimize GI distress by avoiding fermentable carbohydrates.⁸

Iodine

Definition

Trace mineral that functions as part of the thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) that regulate basal metabolism, growth, and body temperature.⁹ Chinese medical literature dating to approximately 3600 BC “were the first to record the decreases in goiter size upon ingestion of seaweed and burnt sea sponge.”¹⁰ It has been estimated that ⅓ of the world’s population consumes insufficient iodine¹¹ and more than one billion people worldwide are iodine deficient.¹² In the US, however, average daily adult intake of iodine has been estimated to be between 210 (140% DV) and 300 µg (200% DV),⁷ amounts that exceed the Recommended Dietary Allowance and the 150-µg Reference Dietary Intake (used to display % DV). Foods sourced from the ocean, including seafood and seaweed, are good sources of iodine, and sea salt contains some natural iodine; other good sources of iodine are vegetables and fruits grown in coastal, iodine-rich soil. Milk is a source of iodine due to the use of iodophor disinfectants used by the dairy industry (a practice that some commercial dairies have voluntarily discontinued), as well as iodine-containing feed additives given to dairy cows. ^13,14 Declaration of iodine content and iodine % DV are not required on Nutrition Facts labels. Additional sources of incidental iodine include iodine-containing dough conditioners used in the bakery industry^12,15 and iodine additives used in processed foods such as calcium iodate, potassium iodate, cuprous iodide, and the type of additive used to fortify salt: potassium iodide. The iodization of salt was initiated in 1924 to eradicate goiter in response to high rates of goiter in inland “goiter belt” (Great Lakes, Appalachians, and Northwest) regions of US.⁸ Iodine is also absorbed transcutaneously from exposure to car exhaust that creates iodine vapor from the combustion of organic fuels and topical exposure to iodine preparations, such as iodine antiseptics.¹¹ Multivitamin-mineral supplements may commonly supply 100% DV for iodine, negating the need for additional iodine intake (Table I.1).

Table I.1 Iodine Content of Common Foods

2% milk, 240 ml	63 μg
Nonfat milk, 240 ml	51 μg
Organic 2% milk, 240 ml	Varies by brand, but this information was not available at several manufacturers who were contacted
Infant formula, 150 ml	6.2–56.8 μg
Cod, cooked, 3 oz (85 g)	99 μg
Shrimp, cooked 3 oz (85 g)	35 μg
Corn grits, enriched, cooked, ½ cup	68 μg
Bread, 1 (~ 50 g) slice	23–300 μg
Whole wheat bread, 2 slices (50 g)	32 μg
Oatmeal, cooked 1 cup	16 μg
Cornflakes, 3 ½ c (100 g)	93 μg
Flour Tortilla, 1 (55 g)	41 μg
Navy beans, ½ cup (~ 90 g)	35 μg
Baked potato, 1 small (110 g)	34 μg
Turkey breast, cooked, 3 oz (85 g)	34 μg
Salami, (100 g)	28 μg
Cottage cheese, 2% (½ cup)	26–71 μg
Egg, cooked, 1 large (50 g)	24 μg
Iodized salt, 1 teaspoon^45 (1 g)^46	45 μg^15
One A Day^® Women’s Multivitamin-Mineral	150 µg^47
Centrum Silver Multivitamin-Mineral	150 µg^48

Sources: ^{7, 10, 12–16}

Scientific Findings

Both iodine deficiency and iodine excess in otherwise healthy individuals can compromise thyroid function.¹¹ Thyroid enlargement is the earliest clinical feature of iodine deficiency, but excess iodine can also produce goiter.⁷ Epidemiological studies have shown that an increased incidence of autoimmune thyroid disease frequently parallels an increased dietary iodine intake,¹⁶ underscoring the need for adequate, but not excessive, iodine intake. Determination of individual iodine intake is difficult in part because nutrition databases typically do not include iodine. Recent data that are representative of the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Author
• Chapter A
• Chapter B
• Chapter C
• Chapter D
• Chapter E
• Chapter F
• Chapter G
• Chapter H
• Chapter I
• Chapter J
• Chapter K
• Chapter L
• Chapter M
• Chapter N
• Chapter O
• Chapter P
• Chapter Q
• Chapter R
• Chapter S
• Chapter T
• Chapter U
• Chapter V
• Chapter W
• Chapter X
• Chapter Y
• Chapter Z
• Appendix 1: Major Phytochemical Groups and Specific Phytochemicals Addressed in The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine, 2nd ed.
• Appendix 2: Reference Daily Intakes Used to Calculate % DVs in The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine, 2nd ed.
• Appendix 3: Definitions of Drug Terms Used in The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine, 2nd ed.
• Index