ABSTRACT
Dietaryrecommendations,likepolypharmacy,seemtohavebeenastapleresortofphysiciansuntilatleastthelatenineteenthcentury,afterwhichthereis apparentlyaprofoundchange.Thischapterseekstoexplorethebackground tothischange.Itdoesnotattempttocoveraperiodofcenturies,ortoassert unbrokencontinuitiesoverthattime.However,wecanbeginwiththecontrast suppliedbythepresentcentury,whenmostpractitionersseemtoknowlittle aboutdiet,ortofeelthatsuchknowledgeisnecessary.1Thissituationischanging,astheforegroundingofthedegenerativediseasesgraduallyshiftsexplanatory modelsbacktomultifactorialformsofanalysis.2Howeverdietetics-whichI woulddefineastheoryrelatedtopractice-currentlyhasparamedicalstatusat best,andtheinitiativelieswithalternativemedicineandthelaity.Inspiteof theeffortsofalternativemedicinetobringfoodandmedicinetogether,most peopletodayarelikelytofeelabletodrawadistinctionbetweenthetwo,in awaythatwashardlypossibleintheearlymodernperiod;thisdisjunctionis shownmostcrudelyinthesuggestionbyrecentgovernmentsthatmealsfor in-patientsarenotahospital'sresponsibilitybecausetheyformnopartofthe entitlementtotreatment.3Medicalsociologistsanalyseboththemedicalconsultation,including'compliance',and(morerarely)transactionsinvolvingfood, but,asfarasIknow,theydonotbringthetwotogether.4
