Good nutrition is essential for healthy living. Eating wisely can be primary prevention for many diseases and it is a part of the treatment for many medical disorders from heart disease to hypertension.

Introduction

1. Nutrition is basic and important. Yet, seldom do discussions about nutrition take place in physicians' offices. The physician should be ready to counsel the patient about her diet. If the physician is uncomfortable, consultation with nutritionists can be obtained.

2. Research: Much of the data on nutrition and nutritional therapy (supplementation or elimination) has been anecdotal. Recording accurate diet records is diicult and observing results from nutritional therapy may take years or decades. The best data are from large surveys such as the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) or the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), but these relationships are often merely correlations and causation is diicult to determine precisely.

3. Nutrition as therapy: Many medical conditions require the use of specialized diet or diet therapy. Obesity, anorexia, diabetes, hypertension, hyper-lipidemia, kidney stones, gout, and other diseases need specialized nutritional counselling. Women who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cancer have increased calorie requirements. Vegetarian women may need advice about maintaining a well-rounded diet.

4. Obesity: Obesity is epidemic in the USA. Approximately 35 percent of women and 25 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Health risks and mortality increase as body mass index increase, including a higher risk of hypertension, dyslipidemias, diabetes mellitus, and CHD mortality.

5. …