ABSTRACT
During the past two decades, global epidemiological studies and multidisciplinary research approaches have been targeted at uncovering the causes and modifying factors associated with the etiology of several important diseases afflicting humankind. These surveys have clearly demonstrated that many of the chronic diseases that affect humans have an uneven geographic distribution (1,2). Although the general perception that several diseases, especially the various types of cancers, often result from an exposure to toxic environmental and agricultural chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or even some food additives is at least partially true, many dietary surveys attribute the incidence of such diseases to locally prevailing nutritional traditions (Table 6.1). Thus, the high incidence of coronary heart disease and cancers of the breast, prostate, pancreas, colon, ovary, and endometrium in the western world is often correlated with high-fat, high-cholesterol, low-fiber diets and the consumption of fried foods, whereas increased risks of hypertension and stroke and cancers of the stomach and esophagus in the Far East are linked to the consumption of salted, pickled, and smoked foods. Similarly, smoking is a worldwide recognized cause of heart disease and of cancers of the lung, pancreas, kidney, urinary bladder, and cervix (1-6). Such uneven geographical distributions of these chronic diseases, therefore, indicate a strong association between prevailing lifestyles, local dietary patterns and traditions, and habits.
