12.13.10
In commentary published in Natural Medicine Journal, Andrew Shao, PhD, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), Washington, D.C., and Douglas Mackay, ND, vice president, scientific and regulatory affairs, urge the scientific community to establish a new paradigm of evidence-based nutrition that sets criteria and guidelines for how to study the effects of nutrients in humans.
Titled “A Commentary on the Nutrient-Chronic Disease Relationship and the New Paradigm of Evidence-Based Nutrition,” the articles states that understanding the role of nutrition in preventing chronic disease is “one of the greatest challenges facing the health sciences field today.”
The authors write that evidence-based medicine (EBM) is currently being misapplied to evaluate the relationship between nutrients and bioactive food components with human health. “Unlike drugs, nutrients work in complex networks, are homeostatically controlled, and cannot be contrasted to a true placebo group. The beneficial effects of nutrients are small and can take decades to manifest. A new paradigm of evidence-based nutrition (EBN) needs to be established that sets criteria and guidelines for how to best study the effects of nutrients in humans. EBN must consider the complex nuances of nutrients and bioactive food components to better inform the design and interpretation of nutrition research.”
They go on to discuss recommendations for guidelines and criteria that could help define the EBN research paradigm.
Titled “A Commentary on the Nutrient-Chronic Disease Relationship and the New Paradigm of Evidence-Based Nutrition,” the articles states that understanding the role of nutrition in preventing chronic disease is “one of the greatest challenges facing the health sciences field today.”
The authors write that evidence-based medicine (EBM) is currently being misapplied to evaluate the relationship between nutrients and bioactive food components with human health. “Unlike drugs, nutrients work in complex networks, are homeostatically controlled, and cannot be contrasted to a true placebo group. The beneficial effects of nutrients are small and can take decades to manifest. A new paradigm of evidence-based nutrition (EBN) needs to be established that sets criteria and guidelines for how to best study the effects of nutrients in humans. EBN must consider the complex nuances of nutrients and bioactive food components to better inform the design and interpretation of nutrition research.”
They go on to discuss recommendations for guidelines and criteria that could help define the EBN research paradigm.
