Background and scope Genetically Engineered (GE) crops have been the most rapidly adopted agricultural technology in mankind history, as evidenced by a 100-fold increase from 1.7 to 181.5 million hectares globally cultivated between 1996 and 2014 1. Their environmental and economic benefits for farmers, farm workers, and society have been extensively reported elsewhere 2,3. Although GE crops ar...

Moderate levels of intestinal damage and inflammation are often seen in intensive fish aquaculture. The causes may be due to antinutrients from plant meals, stress or other causes. There is currently a lack good models explore these effects so how mitigate the consequences. Most studies have used full-fat soy compounds that cause likely not reversible. In this study we explored possibility usin...

‘It seems a common observation’, remarks the author of this interesting book, ‘that men on their own are not very good at feeding themselves’ (p. 195). To be sure, beriberi seems to have affected predominantly institutionalized men, although women in the final trimester of pregnancy and their infants have also been at risk. The issues raised by this point would take one far from the central the...

In 1674, Sir Thomas Willis attributed the polyuria of diabetes to thin blood and proposed the therapeutic use of dietary starch and salt as a means of thickening the blood, as one would thicken gravy. Since then, recommendations for the inclusion of carbohydrate in diabetic diets have been predicated on the understanding (and misunderstanding) of the pathophysiology of diabetes. Thus, dietary r...

The promotion and consumption of indigenous vegetables could help to mitigate food insecurity and alleviate malnutrition in developing countries. Nutrient and antinutrient compositions of eight accessions of Okra Pods were investigated. Molar ratios and mineral bioavailability of Okra pod accessions were also calculated and compared to the critical values to predict the implications for mineral...

Dietary quality is an important limiting factor to adequate nutrition in many resource-poor settings. One aspect of dietary quality with respect to adequacy of micronutrient intakes is bioavailability. Several traditional household food-processing and preparation methods can be used to enhance the bioavailability of micronutrients in plant-based diets. These include thermal processing, mechanic...

The effect of dietary factors on health status has been recognized since antiquity. Although some of the dietary phytochemicals and bioactives have traditionally been considered as “antinutrients”, their beneficial effects in human health promotion and disease prevention has recently been acknowledged. While nutraceuticals, sometimes referred to as natural health products, are often used in med...