Nutrition Encyclopedia

Author: (German) Friederich Mattern, translated by Han Wenjia
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Future of Food
These things still sound like utopias today: foods that can make us live longer. Human cells that can be decomposed hundreds of times without any loss. Cancer that can be cured even in its fatal form. Oral insulin preparations. Genetic diseases that can be prevented by intervening in gene organization. Functional foods that can significantly enhance our memory. — We will personally experience how today’s utopias will become a reality in the future.
Authoritative scientists have already reached a consensus that it will play a crucial role in realizing the utopia: deciphering the interrelationship between human diet, disease occurrence, and the aging process of the human body.
“We are just beginning,” Ronald Klatz, president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, confirmed, directing and coordinating the work of 8,600 doctors and scientists from 55 countries from his office in Chicago, USA. “But there is no doubt: knowledge about a balanced diet will solve many problems in the future, problems that have so far made diseases humanity’s deadliest enemy.”
Like a modern Indiana Jones, this sharp-minded scientist with thick round glasses chases the ultimate discovery in the “tropical jungle” of the human body, in the neural pathways, winding intestines, and organs. Which food components and substances can propel us forward in our quest for immortality? And how can a clearly defined, balanced, and individualized diet make disease prevention possible and keep us mentally and cognitively sharp until old age?
The Key to a Healthy Life
At the turn of the new millennium, numerous studies have proven: the key to a healthy and long life lies in — and above all in — a balanced diet. Until August 2000, the German Institute of Food Medicine and Nutrition in Bad Aachen drew our attention to a new study involving 84,129 women over a 14-year period in the UK.
The most important findings: Unhealthy diets are the second most common cause of myocardial infarction after smoking (more than 15 cigarettes per day), increasing the relative risk. On the other hand, the following dietary approaches have been proven to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction: (as shown in the left image)
If future people can live to 120 years old — an increasingly realistic scenario — then in addition to sufficient physical exercise and stable hormonal levels in the body, a balanced diet will make a significant contribution.
Orwell’s 2084: Genetically Modified Food Poured from a Tube?
However, this raises a question today: What awaits us in the 21st century? Will we — like astronauts — only receive food squeezed from a tube? Will food be genetically modified? Due to the use of pesticides, land development, and climate change, nature can no longer provide us with essential nutrients and antioxidants, so we need to artificially enhance vitamins in fruits, milk, and grains.