Historical development of Human Nutrition (NTD 212)
Lecture-2
by
Ajayi Kayode [PhD]
Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics
College of Medicine and Health Sciences
Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti Nigeria
Today more than ever, obtaining nutritional knowledge can make a big difference in
our lives.
Air, soil, and water pollution in addition to modern farming techniques, have
depleted our soils of vital minerals
The widespread use of food additives, chemicals, sugar and unhealthy fats in our
diets contributes to many of the degenerative diseases of our day such as cancer,
heart disease, arthritis and osteoporosis.
Here is a brief history of the science that offers the hope of improving our health
naturally
Hippocrates
400 B.C. -- Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", said to his students, "Let thy
food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food". He also said “A wise man
should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings.
400 B.C. -- Foods were often used as cosmetics or as medicines in the treatment
of wounds. In some of the early Far-Eastern biblical writings, there were
references to food and health. One story describes the treatment of eye
disease, now known to be due to a vitamin A deficiency, by squeezing the juice
of liver onto the eye. Vitamin A is stored in large amounts in the liver
Leonardo da Vinci
1500’s - Scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci
compared the process of metabolism in the body
to the burning of a candle.
Dr. James Lind
1747 - Dr. James Lind, a physician in the British Navy, performed the first
scientific experiment in nutrition. At that time, sailors were sent on long
voyages for years and they developed scurvy (a painful, deadly, bleeding
disorder). Only nonperishable foods such as dried meat and breads were
taken on the voyages, as fresh foods wouldn’t last. In his experiment, Lind
gave some of the sailors sea water, others vinegar, and the rest limes. Those
given the limes were saved from scurvy. As Vitamin C wasn’t discovered until
the 1930’s, Lind didn’t know it was the vital nutrient. As a note, British
sailors became known as ‘Limeys’.
Antoine Lavoisier
1770 -- Antoine Lavoisier, the “Father of Nutrition and Chemistry” discovered the
actual process by which food is metabolized. He also demonstrated where animal
heat comes from. In his equation, he describes the combination of food and
oxygen in the body, and the resulting giving off of heat and water.
Early 1800’s - It was discovered that foods are composed primarily of four
elements: carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, and methods were developed
for determining the amounts of these elements.
Justus Liebig
1840 -- Justus Liebig of Germany, a pioneer in early plant growth
studies, was the first to point out the chemical makeup of
carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Carbohydrates were made of
sugars, fats were fatty acids, and proteins were made up of
amino acids.
Christiana Eijkman
1897 - Christiana Eijkman, a Dutchman working with natives in Java, observed that some
of the natives developed a disease called Beriberi, which caused heart problems and
paralysis. He observed that when chickens were fed the native diet of white rice, they
developed the symptoms of Beriberi. When he fed the chickens unprocessed brown rice
(with the outer bran intact), they did not develop the disease. Eijkman then fed brown rice
to his patients and they were cured. He discovered that food could cure
disease. Nutritionists later learned that the outer rice bran contains vitamin B1, also
known as thiamine.
E.V. McCollum
1912 - E.V. McCollum, while working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the
University of Wisconsin, developed an approach that opened the way to the
widespread discovery of nutrients. He decided to work with rats rather than large
farm animals like cows and sheep. Using this procedure, he discovered the first
fat soluble vitamin, Vitamin A. He found that rats fed butter were healthier than
those fed lard, as butter contains more Vitamins A.
Dr. Casmir Funk
1912 - Dr. Casmir Funk was the first to coin the term “vitamins” as vital
factors in the diet. He wrote about these unidentified substances
present in food, which could prevent the diseases of scurvy, beriberi
and pellagra (a disease caused by a deficiency of niacin, vitamin B-3).
The term vitamin is derived from the words vital and amine, because
vitamins are required for life and they were originally thought to be
amines -- compounds derived from ammonia.
1930’s - William Rose discovered the essential amino acids, the
building blocks of protein.
1940’s - The water soluble B and C vitamins were identified.
1940’s - Russell Marker perfected a method of synthesizing the female
hormone progesterone from a component of wild yams called
diosgenin.
1950’s to the Present -- The roles of essential nutrients as
part of bodily processes has been brought to light. For
example, more became known about the role of vitamins
and minerals as components of enzymes and hormones
that work within the body.
Linus Pauling
1968-- Linus Pauling, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, created the term
Orthomolecular Nutrition. Orthomolecular is, literally, "pertaining to the
right molecule". Pauling proposed that by giving the body the right
molecules in the right concentration (optimum nutrition), nutrients could be
used by people to achieve better health and prolong life. Studies in the
1970's and 1980's conducted by Pauling and colleagues suggested that very
large doses of vitamin C given intravenously could be helpful in increasing
the survival time and improving the quality of life of terminal cancer
patients.
Philosophy and Objective of Human Nutrition and Dietetics
Philosophy
• Human Nutrition as a science deals with the foods which the
human organism requires, how he utilizes them and how he
deals with the waste products due to its activities.
• Dietetics, on the other hand, is the application of scientific
principles of nutrition to human subjects in health and disease
conditions.
• Student of Nutrition and Dietetics is thus engaged in a broad
multidisciplinary study bridging the gap between the areas of
food science, applied medical science and management studies.
• Objectives
The objectives of the programme are to ensure that students:
1. Understand the inter-relationship among agriculture, food and
nutrition as well as how they relate to health
2. Understand the nutritional values of locally available foods
and appreciate the function of the different constituents,
nutrients, their interaction and possible toxic effects of
non-nutrient constituents.
3. Can assess the main nutritional problems in a community;
appreciate the causes and severity of malnutrition in a
community and design intervention for their solution.
• 4. Plan and formulate adequate diets in health and diseases for all
the groups and population types.
• 5. Appreciate the effects of processing methods on the nutritive
value of food and apply these techniques to improve the quality of
local food resources in order to meet nutritional needs of the
individuals, community and population at large.
• 6. Plan, implement, monitor and evaluate nutrition programmes
and
• 7. Have a global view of the problems of malnutrition and agencies
involved in solving the problem, especially in Africa.
• Scope
The programme commences with a study of the relevant
branches of the natural and management sciences, which
form the basis of a coordinated sequence of applied course
offered in the penultimate and final years.
An essential aspect of this course is the opportunity provided
for students to gain direct practical experience during periods
of industrial training (IT) in the food industries, hotels,
hospitals, research centers, corporate organizations and
agencies.
