ABSTRACT
Good nutrition was all about making sure that people got enough energy and protein and adequate amounts of all of the essential nutrients. The quality of a diet would have been judged upon its ability to supply all of the essential nutrients and to prevent nutritional inadequacy. There are still many populations around the world where people struggle to obtain enough food to eat and where malnutrition and certain deficiency diseases are still prevalent. The classification of butter and margarine as protective foods and the positive presentation of sugar as an energy food may strike a particularly discordant note with modern nutritionists whose focus is on excessive energy intake and the major public health problems caused by obesity. Nutrition research has had an illustrious history studded with many award-winning discoveries capable of transforming and extending the lives of millions of people around the world.
