Role of good nutrition and diet.
The fact is that many nutraceuticals offer tremendous medical and health promise. Only a medical Luddite would question their enormous potential to prevent and treat the diseases and ailments that plague us. Who can doubt, for instance, the value of folic acid supplementation in preventing defects in the newborn, of carnitine supplementation in saving the lives of the children born with insufficient levels of this naturally occurring substance in the heart, or the extremely promising potential of niacin in reducing heart attacks and strokes? And don't forget that plant-derived products, such as quinine for malaria, aspirin for pain and digitalis for heart failure, are dramatic examples of nutraceuticals that were developed as drugs by the pharmaceutical industry
For example, St. John's wort has been heavily promoted in the media as an alternative treatment for mild-to-moderate depression, based on limited, but positive, clinical studies. This level of depression is often found in patients with major illnesses, such as AIDS, or in those facing a serious medical intervention, such as an organ transplant.
Hippocrates, stated something similar over 2,000 years ago - in the 5th century BC:
"Positive health requires knowledge of man's primary constitution and the powers of various foods, both those natural to them and those resulting from human skills. But eating alone is not enough for health. There must be exercise, of which the effects must likewise be known. The combination of these two things makes regimen, when proper attention is given to the seasons of the year, the changes of the winds, the age of the individual and the situation of his home".
Interestingly, Hippocrates incorporates almost every element that we now consider important for improving health and increasing our chances of longer life - namely, genetic makeup, food availability (both fresh and processed), nutrition, exercise, sanitation and hygiene, the weather and a subtle reference to medicine.
In conclusion, it would appear that, when judged by changes in life expectancy, health in our modern society is improving all the time and is not, as is often suggested, getting worse. Progress in medical care, better living conditions and hygiene, better food supply, improved nutrition and the importance of physical activity can be associated with this development.