Highlights From the Institute for Functional Medicine's 2014 Annual Conference: Functional Perspectives on Food and Nutrition: The Ultimate Upstream Medicine (original) (raw)

No one disagrees: Diet significantly affects health. And emerging research is clearly revealing that food is far more than calories delivered in the form of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Food is information with epigenetic effects that impact—for better or worse—the phenotype of not only the individual currently consuming it, but that of future generations of offspring. Although all agree that a high-quality diet is essential for health, disagreement abounds regarding what type of diet is best. Proponents of each of the leading dietary approaches—the Mediterranean diet, Paleo diet, and vegetarian/vegan diet—can all cite abundant (and carefully selected) research support of their chosen diet’s health benefits. But as epigenetics firmly ushers us into the era of personalized medicine, it is becoming increasingly obvious that no single dietary approach is optimal for all. The issue of how to personalize dietary recommendations arises where the proverbial tire meets the road: The p...