(Ancient and Traditional Foods, Plants, Herbs and Spices in Human Health)
by Rajkumar Rajendram, Victor R. Preedy, Vinood B. Patel
The use of different foods,
herbs, and spices to treat or prevent disease has been recorded for
thousands of years. Egyptian papyrus, hieroglyphics and ancient texts
from the Middle East have described the cultivation and preparations of
herbs and botanicals to “cure the sick.” There are even older records
from China and India. Some ancient scripts describe the use of
medicinal plants which have never been seen within European cultures.
Indeed, all ancient civilizations have pictorial records of different
foods, herbs, and spices being used for medical purposes. However,
there are fundamental issues pertaining to the scientific evidence for
the use of these agents or their extracts in modern medicine. These
issues are explored in Ancient and Traditional Foods, Plants, Herbs and
Spices Used in Diabetes.
Features
·
Investigates alternative healthcare paradigms that use
traditional dietary foods, plant-derived materials, and extracts to
treat diabetes
· Describes scientific studies using modern day biomedical techniques
· Provides information on diets, specific agents, extracts and resources.
·
Many chapters focus on plant-derived material, providing a
historical background, uses, toxicity, and cautionary notes and summary
points.
There have been
considerable advances in scientific techniques over the last few
decades. These have been used to examine the composition and
applications of traditional cures. Modern science has also seen the
investigation of herbs, spices and botanicals beyond their traditional
usage. Diabetes is one of the most common diseases worldwide, with over
400 million people with the illness. With chapter contributions by an
international panel of contributors, this book is useful for
researchers in the area of functional foods. Diabetologists,
nutritionists, endocrinologists, healthcare workers, and
pharmacologists will also find this book extremely valuable.
