How can food contribute to better health? Jean Seignalet dedicated his life’s work to the question.
Jean Seignalet (1936-2003) was a French surgeon and immunologist who spent a good part of his working life studying the interconnection between food and health. Although controversial among his peers, his rather extreme recommendations still highlight how important our diet is to our health.
French surgeon and immunology researcher Jean Seignalet was one person who dedicated dedicated his working life to exploring the links between the human lifestyle and and health, focussing in particular on diet. His work was controversial within the scientific community, but he nonetheless drew attention to to the important issue of how we can be the actors of our own well-being.
Going back to the diet of hunter-gatherers
Jean Seignalet was born in 1936 and first became known as a surgeon and immunologist: specifically, he worked on compatibility-related compatibility-related issues for organ donation. He used to publish articles in the most serious scientific journals, where his work would be reviewed reviewed and approved by his peers. peers. In the 1980s, after after becoming seriously ill, Seignalet started to look into the relationship between food and health in more detail. He soon came to the conclusion that the human lifestyle has evolved much faster than our organisms, and that the modern diet is generally unsuitable unsuitable for the needs and processes processes of our bodies and, long-term, can trigger or favour the appearance of certain diseases. He thus came up with a specific diet, di et, called “hypotoxic”, intended to resemble as closely as possible that of the hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic Age (200,000 to 12,000 B.C.). The diet is strict, as it excludes all foods cooked at high temperatures and gluten for instance. The consumption of organic foodstuffs and unrefined oils is encouraged. As Seignalet was first and foremost a doctor, his diet aimed to help patients recover from diseases, di seases, some of which were considered incurable.
A complex legacy
In a book called L’Alimentation ou la troisième médecine ( médecine ( Food, Food, or the Third Medicine), Medicine), he recounted the results he h e witnessed with his patients, which which no scientific journal journal agreed to publish. His work on diet and health was never acknowledged by the scientific community, and he insisted that he did not set out to cure diseases
with the hypotoxic diet, but rather to help prevent their apparition and support the recovery process. This controversial figure died in 2003, leaving behind him a community of enthusiastic adepts of his diet who live by it every day. Even though his specific recommendations were never validated by his peers, in a context of increasing diet-related issues (such as the spread of obesity in the developed and in the developing world), Seignalet’s work resonates with the idea that we can, to a certain extent, be our own health’s best helper.
Dr. Jean Seignalet Ancestral Diet What conditions is this diet best for?
The author of the Seignalet Diet blog, which is the only information available in English on Dr. Jean Seignalet’s diet thus far, notes that Dr. Seignalet originally developed the diet for rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and Behcet disease. Good results from the diet moved him to eventually expand into treating all autoimmune disorders and even other diseases of unknown cause. What are the main tenets of the diet?
The basic premise of the diet is that modern foods are chromosomally/genetically different from ancestral foods, and the human gastrointestinal tract has not had time to adapt to these changes. Dr. Seignalet also believed that cooking at high temperatures can modify the protein structure of foods, which can lead to autoimmunity as well as alteration of the gastrointestinal flora (bacteria that colonize the GI tract and play a large role in immunity and gastrointestinal function). Dr. Seignalet believed that these modified proteins may not be fully digested, which can change the bacterial flora from a fermentation flora (physiologically preferred) to a putreficaiton flora (not physiologically preferred). Bacteria, which work to putrefy proteins, create toxic by-products, which can cause many imbalances and lead to disease. The philosophy of the diet involves eating non-modified foods, which can be completely digested and assimilated, or used properly by the body. Foods given up/Foods eaten frequently: Cereals and grains Wheat and its products (see exceptions below), oats, corn, barley,
rye, kamut, millet, bulgur, couscous, farro (even though it is marketed as an ancestral grain) are not allowed. Buckwheat, quinoa, rice, wheat starch and corn starch are allowed, for the damaging proteins do not exist in the starch anymore. Soaking and sprouting of allowed grains is preferred. Dairy All animal-source dairy are avoided. Meat Raw meat is preferred, such as in the form of carpaccio or steak tartare. Gently cooked meat is allowed. Raw deli meats such as parma ham, sausages and salami are allowed. Cooked deli meats (like cooked ham, turkey, chicken, roastbeef) are not allowed.
True foie gras is allowed and its fat is considered healthy, although many people choose to avoid foie gras for ethical reasons. Pate is typically not allowed, as it contains both milk and flour. Fish Just as with meat and eggs, the recommendation is, the less cooked the better. The author notes that lightly steamed fish is not as “dangerous” as cooked meat. Shellfish and oysters are allowed, preferably raw. Eggs Best raw or poached, never hard-boiled. The reviewer notes that soft-boiled would be preferential to hard-boiled. Fruits and Vegetables All are allowed and recommended in large quantities. Pulses and legumes are allowed as well. Dried Fruits and Nuts Recommended in large quantity, although the reviewer notes that these are likely intended to be preservative-free. The author notes that nuts should be consumed raw, and the reviewer notes that
soaking nuts, as well as pulses, legumes and grains, before consuming improves digestion and assimilation. Other foods Dr. Seignalet recommended eating honey and pollen; chocolate must be pure and dark with no additives. It may be sweetened with brown sugar, agave, honey or maple syrup; white sugar must be eliminated. Oils Any oil from a first cold press is allowed. Condiments All are allowed in pure, additive-free form, including herbs and spices. Salt should only be taken in whole form, versus refined. Beverages Tap water and mineral water are encouraged. Coffee and tea are tolerated in reasonable quantities. Achicoria (Spanish for chicory root) consumption is recommended. Chicory root contains inulin, which is a type of carbohydrate that serves as a prebiotic. Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates for humans, but friendly gastrointestinal flora are able to digest them and use them for energy. All alcoholic beverages (excluding beer and drinks with added sugar) are allowed in moderate amounts. Drinks with added sugar, such as soda and commercial juices and prohibited. Cooking Dr. Seignalet recommended avoidance of cooking as much as possible, with over 70% of diet consumed as raw. He recommended that cooking temperatures, when cooking is unavoidable, to remain below 212° Fahrenheit, with a preference for steaming. Over this temperature (and especially over about 400°), he stated that many mutagens, Maillard molecules and isomers are created, which turn into toxins once inside the body.
Light sautéing, stewing, steaming and dehydrating are allowed, since all of these methods don´t reach high temperatures. Frying and oven cooking are not recommended, since these methods allow very high temperatures to be reached. Eating smoked foods with moderation is recommended because of the carcinogen effect in the stomach. Meal Frequency and Portion Sizing: No specific recommendations given. Vitamins/Supplements: No specific recommendations, although bee pollen can be considered a supplement. Will this diet require shopping at a specialty or organic grocery store, or buying the diet’s pre-packaged food (aka, is this diet going to be very expensive to sustain)?
This diet will require some shopping at a specialty or organic grocery store. Genetically modified foods are not recommended, so organic foods would be the obvious choice. Also, since quinoa, rice and buckwheat are the only recommended grains, one may wish to find flours made of these to use in cooking, as well as nut, bean and banana/plantain flours. All of these will require specialty shopping. There are no pre-packaged diet foods associated with this diet. This diet can be expensive, although careful meal planning and the minimization of eating out (which is implied) can help to off-set costs. What other autoimmune diets is this diet similar to?
This diet is similar to most autoimmune diets in that organic and unprocessed foods are highly recommended. It is also similar to elimination diets for autoimmunity, since dairy, gluten, additives/preservatives are excluded. This is diet is unique to other autoimmune diets with its recommendation for mostly raw foods,
including meats, fish and eggs. The reviewer notes, however, that the concept of consuming mostly raw or gently cooked meats/foods is not new or unique to this diet. The idea of protecting the structure of proteins as well as fats is an idea that the reviewer believes is worth considering for optimal health and well-being. Anytime raw meat is consumed, one must make sure the meat has been handled appropriately prior to consumption.
Diet basis
JEAN SEIGNALET worked as a doctor and professor in the Montpellier Hospital (France). He was the administrator of the renal graft department during 30 years, and a pioneer in organ transplantation, especially renal. His wide knowledge as a doctor and biologist allowed him to create a global theory that related a big part of autoimmune diseases with modern diet, designing a diet that applied with success to his patients. At first, he designed a diet to eliminate the possible stimulators of the immune system in autoimmune diseases, especially in rheumatologic ones: rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Behcet disease… The good results obtained moved him to apply his diet to autoimmune diseases from other specialties, and after that even to other diseases of unknown cause. The results are shown here. In 1998 published “L´Alimentation ou la Troisième Médecine” (Alimentation, the third medicine) where he exposes the basis of a healthy diet, and healing/preventive for many diseases. JEAN SEIGNALET sets his proposal of diet following a basic idea: some modern foods are modified from “ancestral” ones, whereas our digestive system has not modified. This modification of the food is given by the genetic mutation caused by agriculture, in the case of some cereals, or by cooking at high temperatures, that modifies the protein structure. Thus, the proteins we eat may not be digested completely, altering the balance of the intestinal flora and passing from a fermentation flora (physiologic) to a putrefaction flora (non physiologic). This alteration of the flora and of the intestinal content creates toxins that are absorbed and disturb the body balance. This alteration may be given by the elimination of the excess of toxins, in the case of the elimination diseases, by the accumulation of this excess of toxins, in the accumulation diseases, or by the stimulation of the immune system by strange proteins, in the case of the
autoimmune diseases. The philosophy of the diet involves eating non-modified foods that are completely absorbable. Basic principles:
Exclusion of cereals, with some exceptions. Exclusion of dairy and dairy products. Preferential consumption of raw products (more than 70% of the diet should be raw). Use of virgin oils, obtained by cold pressure. Priority to biologic products. Frequent consumption of probiotics.
EXPLANATION: 1.- Cereals:
- Modern cereals are forbidden, as they are mutated because of agriculture selection. It is known that modern wheat has 21-23 chromosomes, whereas “ancestral” wheat had 7. This modification affects the protein structure, which can act as a toxin not being completely digested. This toxins act in the intestine too, modifying the intestinal flora and creating a putrefaction flora that affects the intestinal wall and creates even more toxins. - Wheat is dangerous, for the reasons above. Thus, foods containing it must be eliminated: bulgur, couscous, Italian pasta, cakes, bakery… Spelt is not admitted, because despite being sold as “ancestral” wheat, it has 22 chromosomes. Kamut isn´t valid either for the same reasons. Only the variety minor escanda is valid, because it contains 7 chromosomes. - Corn is dangerous for the same reasons that wheat: the original plant measured half a meter, whereas the modern plant measures 3 meters high. - Barley, rye and oat are from the wheat family: must be excluded.
- Rice is accepted. It has remained in his wild prehistoric form, and the clinical experience proves that it´s rarely harmful, even cooked. - Buckwheat is very well-tolerated by the patients and is allowed. Probably sesame is very good too. - About the African cereals (millet, sorghum…) and others (amaranth, quinoa…), Seignalet doesn´t have a clear opinion. They are probably inoffensive, as have never reached massive farming. Recent studies show that millet is also probably a mutated cereal, and so should be excluded. - It is possible to use flour, but from the accepted foods: buckwheat flour, quinoa, soya, chickpea, rice, banana… - Thus, the traditional Italian pasta is not allowed (made of wheat semolina), nor couscous, nor bulgur. Many other foods also contain wheat of other forbidden cereals; carefully read the ingredients on the labels to be certain. - The corn and wheat starch are allowed, as they don´t contain proteins if purified. 2.- Dairy and dairy products:
- Cow´s milk is a very nutritive food…for a growing calf. Humans can only digest milk from our specie, and during the lactation period. The main protein from milk, casein, is hard to digest completely by humans, creating the problems mentioned above. - Dairy is forbidden (cow, sheep, goat…), and dairy products as well (butter, cheese, cream, yogurt…) - This suppression doesn´t provoke a calcium deficiency, as the foods we eat are already rich in calcium, and the body will absorb calcium depending on its needs.
- Soya milk and yogurt are good substitutes for classic dairy. Other vegetable milks are also available: almond, hazelnut, rice… 3.- Meat:
- It´s preferable to eat raw meat (carpaccio, steak tartare…) or just a bit done. - Raw grocery is allowed (parma ham, sausages, salami…) and cooked grocery is forbidden (cooked ham…). - True foie-gras (goose – duck liver ) is allowed, as its fat is known to be healthy. Common paté isn´t, because it usually contains milk and flour. 4.- Fish:
- As for meat and eggs, the less cooked, the better. However, cooked fish is less dangerous than cooked meat. It can be steamed or cooked at low temperature. - Shellfish is allowed. And if eaten raw (oysters…) even recommended. 5.- Eggs:
Better raw or poached, never hard-boiled. 6.- Greens and fruits:
- All greens and fruits are allowed (and recommended). They should be eaten in big quantities. - Pulses or leguminous are allowed the same as greens, it´s admitted as an exception cooking in a pressure-cooker.
7.- Dry fruits:
He advises to eat a lot of them: figs, dates, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, olives…But always raw, never toasted. 8.- Other foods:
- Seignalet advises eating honey and pollen. Also aprouted grains of leguminous (soya, lentils…). - Chocolate has to be black, biologic and with brown sugar or other natural sweeteners (agave, maple syrup, honey). - White sugar must be eliminated and replaced by brown sugar, much richer in minerals and vitamins. 9.- Oils:
Seignalet recommends the following oils: - olive oil because it contains monoinsaturated fatty acids. - walnut, soy and canola oil that bring alfa-linoleic acid. - onagra and borage oil that bring beta-linoleic acid. But any oil is good whenever it´s virgin and extracted by first cold pressure. 10.- Condiments:
All allowed: salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon, garlic, parsley, mustard, curry…He recommends to limit the salt consumption and not taking refined one, but complete salt (Maldon salt, Himalaya salt…) 11.- Drinks:
- Tap water and mineral water bring us oligoelements and minerals. - Drinks rich in white sugar are excluded: soda, commercial juices.
- Beer is excluded, because it contains barley proteins. - Coffee and tea are tolerated in reasonable quantities. - Chicory consumption is recommended. - All alcoholic beverages are allowed (beer excluded) in moderated amounts.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
- Avoid as much as possible cooking food. It´s important to eat as much raw food as possible (over 70% of diet should be raw), and when cooking is necessary/inevitable, temperatures shouldn´t overpass 110Cº or even 100ºC, preferably steaming. Over this temperature (and especially over 200ºC) a lot of mutagens, Maillard molecules and isomers are created, that turn into toxins once inside our body. - It´s ok to fry very lightly, stewing, steaming or dehydrating, because all of these methods don´t reach high temperatures. - Frying is not recommended if 200ºC or more are reached, nor is oven-cooking, which can even reach 280ºC. - Eat smoked foods with moderation because of the carcinogen effect in the stomach.
COMPLEMENTARY MEASURES OF THIS DIET
- Not smoking. - Doing physical exercise as a routine
- Taking probiotic products to regulate intestinal flora. This is a diet that needs the person to understand the reason that lies under this type of alimentation, and then using his intelligence and willpower to follow it correctly.
Alimentation or the third medicine:
The origin of most diseases appears mysterious. Consequently, treatments cannot be directed against the cause, but are only symptomatic or palliative. Treatment is often disappointing and many illnesses are considered as uncurable or incurable. Why do the mechanisms remain unexplained? Partly because most doctors and researchers are excessively specialized and they only consider a single facet of a pathological state, which in fact possesses many other aspects. A larger vision, using the date provided by all branches of medicine and biology, allows a much deeper analysis and results in a plausible conception of the physiopathology of different diseases. Favouring hereditary factors, named susceptibility genes, are present but not sufficient. The intervention of environmental factor is necessary. In many cases most factors can be eliminated (radiation, chemical products, tobacco and other toxic substances, medication, allergens, viruses) and two suspects are retained : bacteria and food. A great number of bacterial and alimentary macromolecules are able to penetrate the human organism and modern food is mainly responsible for this phenomenon. Human enzymes and mucines are adapted to prehistoric food,
but not to modern food which is very distant. The principal changes are the following : * Consumption of animal milks and their derivatives * Ingestion of muted and cooked cereals * Absorption of many over cooked products * Utilisation of hot extracted vegetal oils * Presence of numerous chemical additives * Partial deficit for some minerals and vitamins Modern food appears as the first cause of many unexplained diseases. It provokes three modifications in an essential organ, the small bowel : 1) Some aliments are incompletely degraded, for the digestive enzymes are not adapted to their structure. The consequence is an excess of alimentary macromolecules. 2) Gut flora is altered and turns into a putrefaction flora, with proliferation of some dangerous bacteria. The metabolism, the death or the destruction by an immune response of these bacteria release an excess of bacterial macromolecules. 3) This abnormal intestinal content is agressive towards the gut mucosa, which is fragile, because it is very extensive (100 square meters) and very thin (1/40 of millimeter). The gut barrier becomes too permeable. Stresses aggravate the small bowel hyperpermeability, for they induce a gamma interferon secretion. This mediator binds to gut mucosa epithelial cells, leading to a spacing
between these cells. Later on, some bacterial and alimentary macromolecules arrive in blood circulation. The composition of these molecules varies according to individuals, for it is conditioned by variations in gut flora, alimentary habits and efficacy of enzymes which cut proteins, lipids and glucids at different sites. According to their structure, these molecules will have an affinity for various types of cells and tissues. They can provoke three categories of pathology : 1) The peptides are going to bind with HLA molecules, which present these peptides to T cells. These lymphocytes are unable to recognize a whole agressor : bacterium, virus ou protein. Their little membrane receptors only allow the recognition of relatively small peptides, and these peptides must be associated with HLA molecules. Activated T cells induce an immune response directed against the cells which express the peptide. The consequence will be an autoimmune disease : * Rheumatoid arthritis (Proteus mirabilis peptide in synovial and chondral cells, coupled with HLA-DR4 or HLA-DR1). * Ankylosing spondylitis (Klebsiella pneumoniae peptide in enthesis, coupled with HLA-B27). * Grave's disease (Yersinia enterocolitica peptide in thyroid epithelial cells, coupled with HLA-DR3). * Coeliac disease (gluten gliadine peptide in small bowel mucosa epithelial cells, coupled with HLA-DR53 ou HLA-DQ2) and so on ... 2) The non peptidic molecules essentially include bacterial ADN, bacterial lipopolysaccharides, products of Maillard's
reaction, isomeres of proteins, lipids and glucids. These substances are poorly recognized or not recognized by lymphocytes and do not stimulate an immune response. But they may settle in extracellular medium, they may block some membrane receptors and they may accumulate in cytoplasm and nucleus of cells. The outcome is a "clutter" pathology : * Maturity onset diabetes mellitus (cluttering of endocrine pancreas, muscles and adipose tissue) * Fibromyalgia (cluttering of molecules, tenders and brain) * Arthrosis (cluttering of chondral cells) cancers (cluttering provoking some genetic alterations which transform a normal cell into a malignant cell) and so on ... 3) The human organism attempts to evaluate these nocious wastes. The macromolecules which are unbreakable by enzymes, remain whole. They must be carried by macrophages and neutrophils, escorted by lymphocytes, from blood circulation to the outside, through various tissues. The tissues infiltrated by leukocytes become inflammed and the chronic inflammation leads to the elimination pathology : * Through the skin : acnea, psoriasis * Through the colon : irritable bowel, Crohn's disease * Through the bronchia : bronchitis, asthma * Through the mucosa of ORL sphera : recurrent infections, hay fever, Behçet's disease and so on ... The logical treatment of all quoted diseases is the return to an ancestral diet, close to that practiced by prehistoric men : * Suppression of animal milks and their derivatives * Suppression of cereals, except rice which has never muted
* Consumption of products, either crude, or cooked at a temperature lower than 110°C * Use of oils obtained by first pression, at cold temperature * Preference for biological aliments * Supplementation with physiological quantities of minerals and vitamins. In practice, this diet is very often and very intensely efficient. To show some examples, it considerably improves or leads to a complete remission : 1) Among autoimmune diseases : * 80 % of patients in rheumatoid arthritis * 95 % in ankylosing spondylitis * 80 % in psoriatic rheumatism * 70 % in Sjögren's syndrome 2) Among cluttering diseases : * 75 % of patients in maturity onset diabetes mellitus * 80 % in fibromyalgia * 75 % in arthrosis And an evident preventive effect on cancer (except skin tumors) : only one case occurred among 1000 subjects who practiced the ancestral diet since a mean of 5 years (the expected number was 18 cases).
3) Among elimination diseases : * 99 % of patients in acnea * 99 % in irritable bowel * 97 % in Crohn's disease * 90 % in asthma * 99 % in hay fever The hypotoxic diet often cures a disease, but cannot repair some definitive lesions : articular deformations in rheumatoid arthritis, destruction of lachrymal and salivary glands in Sjögren's disease, scars in acnea, stenosis, abcess, fistula or fissure in Crohn's disease, and so on... Chronic bronchitis is curable, but not bronchectasia, for the elastic tissue of bronchia is distented. Therefore, it is essential to start the nutritional change as soon as possible.
Catherine Kousmine: a pioneer in the study of the relationship between health and food
Summary Catherine Kousmine was a Russian physician who lived and worked in Switzerland. In the mid- 20th century, she was among the first researchers to work on the influence of food on health – and, more precisely, on medical treatments. Her works gained her fame, and some controversy too. The relationship between health and food might seem obvious to us in our society today: we are constantly exposed to public health messages urging us to take care of our bodies through physical activity and by adopting healthy eating habits, and we follow them. But we have not always been aware of the link – or at least not with such a degree of accuracy. There was of course always a major element of common sense in understanding that a balanced diet helps keep us in better shape than excesses would. Also, this concerns the general public’s knowledge of the relationship between health and food: the much more precise and complex link between medicine and food has a lower public profile, simply because
medicine as an area of expertise leaves the issue of medical nutrition to professional researchers, doctors and caregivers. But there are figures who have explored this issue and brought it into view of the general public. One of them is Dr Catherine Kousmine (1904-1992), a pioneer in the study of the help that food can give to medicine. This controversial scientist mothered a method and a Foundation that now perpetuate her findings and teachings.
Curing cancerous mice with natural food
Catherine Kousmine was born in Russia in 1904. Her family was wealthy; in 1918, the Russian Revolution forced them into exile, and they moved to their holiday home in Switzerland. Catherine thus attended school in Lausanne, and later specialised in medicine and paediatrics. After having lost two young patients to cancer, she started to research the link between the disease and food… almost by accident. She said she was examining cancerous mice and that, in order to save money, she alternated the food she gave them; one day they received bread, milk, carrots, beer, etc. and the next nutrition pills, as are usually given in labs. This proportion of 50% of good food and 50% of bad food coincided with the cancers dropping by 50%, says the Kousmine Foundation’s website. She thus became convinced that some diseases that were thought to be incurable could be fought using a complementary healthy diet which provided elements required by the body. Retrospectively, Catherine Kousmine is now considered as one of the founders of orthomolecular medicine, an approach that favours substances naturally known to the human body over the use of molecules
created by man for therapeutic purposes. In 1949, Dr Kousmine claimed to having cured a man suffering from generalised reticulosarcoma thanks to her complementary nutritional method – a result that has not been documented in any other case ever since. She also specialised in other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and polyarthritis. At the time, Kousmine’s findings were criticized for a lack of scientific rigour, especially in the testing methods used. She always claimed that her conclusions were based on consistent experience and that her recommendations showed results, but she was never recognized by the scientific community. Despite this, she achieved a degree of fame, notably through her books: Soyez bien dans votre assiette jusqu’à 80 ans et plus (“Eat Well and Be Well till 80 and Beyond”), La Sclérose en plaque est guérissable (“Multiple Sclerosis is Curable”) and Sauvez votre corps (“Save Your Body”). She died in Switzerland in 1992, and the people who had known her and worked with her decided to continue her work through a Foundation which undertook to teach her method all around the world. Whether Catherine Kousmine was right or wrong, it is still difficult to say with certainty. What is sure is that she opened the way for greater attention to be paid to the strong interconnections between food and health.
What is nutrition economics? Summary The relation between food and health has been documented sufficiently for a new discipline to emerge: nutrition economics. This rising research field focuses on the interdependency between dietary habits, health and public expenses. A paper recently published in the British Journal of Nutrition tells us more about how social & public spending, everywhere in the world, could be checked through the adoption of healthier diets. In fact, it is a topic that guides our whole reflection on nutrition, because it is key to improving people’s well-being everywhere in the world. This idea is at the heart of Danone’s mission: “to bring health through food to as many people as possible.” Developed and developing countries are facing challenging health issues, and a growing number of them are diet-related – undernutrition, diabetes and obesity for example. The latter two fall into the category of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), recently highlighted by the World Economic Forum as “one of the three most significant risks to global well- being.” We can’t talk about risk without talking about cost: these threats to global health necessarily imply economic burdens for public health systems. This idea lies at the heart of a new research field called “nutrition economics”. It explores the close links between dietary habits, health and public expenditure. The aim of the research is to offer concrete solutions to help prevent the spread of NCDs and food-related conditions, in order both to improve people’s well-being and to help health budgets shed a little weight. In March 2013, five experts (including one from Danone Research) published a paper in the British Journal of Nutrition entitled:
“ Nutrition Economics – Food as an Ally of Public Health”. It is an interesting read which sheds some light on nutrition economics, its findings and its recommendations.
The rising challenge of preventing diseases
What actually is nutrition economics? A “merging of health economics and nutritional sciences”, write I. Lenoir -Wijnkoop, P. J. Jones, R. Uauy, L. Segal and J. Milner, who co-authored the piece. The term was coined in 2010 by a group of multidisciplinary experts who defined it as a discipline dedicated to researching and characterising health and economic outcomes in nutrition for the benefit of society. The central idea here is to improve health maintenance and delay the onset of disease: if the links between diets and health are uncovered, then appropriate policies can be defined to prevent diseases from erupting, thereby efficiently fighting diet-related health concerns. The stakes are huge: in most developed countries, “health care expenditure continues to rise faster than economic growth”, write the authors. In the past 10 years, it has increased by 50% in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation, while “the economic cost of diet-related NCD in China was estimated at 2.4% of gross domestic product in 1995.” The paper reminds another striking information: cancer, diabetes, heart disease and lung disease kill 36 million people worldwide every year, making up 63% of global deaths – and a majority of cancers occurs in high-income countries. It thus becomes obvious that “the commitment by governments to eradicate hunger and undernutrition is not only an ethical imperative, but also a sound investment that will yield significant economic gains and major social benefits.” A
win-win opportunity, you might say. Public health efficiency is in fact a key to a sustainable health care organisation, and nutrition economics supports the development of sound, persuasive public policies to promote health through food. Now the main question is: how? Science has some answers in store.
“Let thy food be thy medicine”
The methodology used by nutrition economics researchers can be broken down into three steps: first, they measure and establish the actual cost of diseases; second, they evaluate the economic impacts of food habits in “real”, everyday life; and third, they define precise strategies to help actually change dietary and nutritional behaviours. As they write in the conclusion of the paper, this work must help raise awareness as well as recommending turnkey actions: “There is a need to improve awareness among health authorities and decision makers of the very considerable benefits of better-quality diets and of the effective and cost-effective policies that can achieve that goal. Nutrition economics has a major role in informing this desirable policy direction.” Here is a strong example of how science can and must guide public action, by providing clear information on the costs and benefits of a particular policy. Science has a responsibility to demonstrate the approaches that will be most beneficial to all. As highlighted by the paper, governments and public authorities can strive to “alleviate undernutrition”, deficiencies and NCDs by promoting healthy dietary habits as part of everyday life (communication to the public has a major role to play here), and by supporting the use of “functional foods” (foods where an additional ingredient has been included to provide a supplementary function). These are effective ways to prevent diseases,on the long term, and every effort must be made to help the public understand that it truly matters.
As Hippocrates once said: “Let thy food be thy medicine.” In these times of crisis, nutrition economics highlight how this principle must guide modern societies towards both offering better health to everyone and reducing public expenditure.
