ABSTRACT
Food as medicine, recommended in diets for ill individuals, in cludes certain specific species that are eaten or mixed with other foods. These medicinal foods may be roasted, boiled, or made into beverages. Such use of specific foods to cure illness goes back a long way in human history. As pointed out by Etkin and Johns (1998, p. 3), a key organizing principle of this practice is that all foods contain a single element that when digested repairs the body and provides en ergy, thereby mediating disease.
