Talk:Nutrition
Is cancer caused by poor or excess nutrition? Which cancer? Also is diabetes actually caused by nutrition (and why do we have it listed under both caused by nutrition and under nutrition partly contributes categories. --rmhermen
The text is at least overly simplistic. First, "cancer" isn't a disease, it's a collection of dozens of unrelated or vaguely related diseases. Nutrition certainly contributes to some of them (e.g., anti-oxidants and colon cancer); others are primarily caused by infection (e.g. cervical cancer); others are largely genetic (e.g., breast cancer); and most are of unknown or combination etiology. Diabetes can clearly be affected and even brought about by diet, but it clearly has a genetic component as well.
It is almost always a bad idea to say "X" causes "Y" in a complex biological system. Things that are designed have simple problems and causes; things that are evolved over milennia don't. This is one place where weasel words are appropriate not only because of limited knowledge and disagreement, but because of the inherently complex and imprecise nature of the thing being discussed. --LDC
Where in the text would the link to cooking go? --mike dill
Text is so far overlooking the probability that poor nutrition contributes to depressed immune system function, which may predispose people to many diseases and conditions. --[maia williams]
Recently I've been hearing in the news that the food pyramid is not all that great idea afterall. I've also heard that drinking your 8 cups (or whatever it is) a day of water is not necessary anymore. Should this page be updated to include such information maybe? -- Ram-Man
The "8 cups of water a day" thing was never a recommendation of any legitimate medical group; it's more of an urban legend that people keep repeating because it's simple and convenient. Likewise the "pyramid" is a political result, not a medical one, though most doctors saw it as reasonable at the time. The anti-fat mania of the 80s and 90s is starting to fade a little now that more long-term studies have come in to show that fats aren't really as bad as we thought, and carbs are worse than we thought. But like all science, it changes as we learn more. --LDC
--- A suggestion for inclusion into the article: why is it so important for humans to eat a diverse diet of fruits and veggies and whatnot, but animals like the koala bear survive eating just one kind of plant. Do koala bears not need all the same nutrients humans do, or do they get some of them some other way? Tokerboy
--- Anyone know if http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/dga/dga95/cover.html could be considered public domain for inclusion in this article? Someone who's a bit bored could find out... I'm not :P Maxious
___
I think this page needs a considerable rewrite, the later parts of it are more like a stub than a readable, consistent article. So fix it then, I hear a thousand voices whisper.... TonyClarke 00:04, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)