Environment and Diet

This chapter deals with two important and related topics in archaeological investigations die environment in which people lived, and the foods that they ate. The environment plays a major role in die diet that is available to hnman groups. This relationship is seen both in terms of the specific kinds of plants and animals that are available and in terms of changes in climate and resources over time that impact the human population. 

Diet refers to the food and water that we consume to survive. In today s world, where a variety of foods are available at the nearest supermarket, we are a bit removed from tire necessity of finding foods in the wild through hunting and gathering, or cultivating and herding domesticated plants and animals by farming the land. In order to understand past human behavior it is essential that we know what our ancestors ate 

What is important for such climate studies it that the material under study have 

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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic carbohydrate disorder that results from either insufficient insulin (type 1 DM) or the body s inability to recognize available insulin (type 2 DM). DM is a multifactorially inherited disorder this means that although people can inherit a propensity toward this condition, environment and diet can trigger onset of the actual disease. People who suffer from DM experience abnormally high blood... 

Conney AH, Pantuck EJ, Pantuck CB, Buening M, Jerina DM, Fortner JG, Al-vares AP, Anderson KE, Kappas A. 1979. Role of environment and diet in the regulation of human drug metabolism. In The Induction of Drug Metabolism, ed. RW... 

Airey D. 1983a. Mercury in human hair due to environment and diet a review. Environ Health Perspect 52 303-316. 

Bone tissue is created from the minerals and organic molecules that entered the body through drinking water and food and the chemistry of human bone holds information on the diet and life history of the deceased individual. Both the elemental and the isotopic composition of bone are important in studies concerned with dietary reconstruction. Elemental analyses focus on the mineral portion of bone, while isotopic studies are usually aimed at the organic part. Isotopic analyses are also used to study place of origin and past climate as recorded in tooth and bone. The role of archaeological chemistry in the study of prehistoric bones is discussed in further detail in Chap. 4 on Methods, and several examples are provided in Chap. 7, Environment and Diet. 

Rice bran fiber has fructo-oligosaccharides - a pre-biotic that helps friendly bacteria to proliferate in the gastrointestinal environment and improves intestinal and colon health (Tomlin and Read, 1988). Recent studies in humans (Kahlon and Chow, 1997) have revealed that rice bran fiber not only normalizes bowel function, but also helps in conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Crohn s disease, and lowers the lipid levels. Rice bran fiber has been shown to significantly reduce renal stones (Jahnen et al., 1992). It is a good source of fiber in weight loss programs and therapeutic fiber diets for diabetics and heart patients. Fiber diets prevent cancer of the colon and large bowel, control obesity and improve bowel function. 

Gulson BL, Jameson CW, Mahaffey KR, et al. 1998. Relationships of lead in breast milk to lead in blood, urine, and diet of the infant and mother. Environ Health Perspect 106(10) 667-674. 

Skaar, D.R., B.T. Johnson, J.R. Jones, and J.N. Huckins. 1981. Fate of kepone and mirex in a model aquatic environment sediment, fish, and diet. Canad. Jour. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 38 931-938. 

Grasman, K.A., and Scanlon, P.F., Effects of acute lead ingestion and diet on antibody and T-cell-mediated immunity in Japanese quail, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 28, 161, 1995. 

PCDD/PCDFs are today found in almost all compartments of the global ecosystem in at least trace amounts. They are ubiquitous in soil, sediments and air. Excluding occupational or accidental exposures, most human background exposure to dioxins and PCBs occurs through the diet, with food of animal origin being the major source, as they are persistent in the environment and accumulate in animal fat. 

Apart from patient-specific parameters, external factors - most importantly the concomitant uptake of certain other chemicals present in diet, environment and especially other drugs - influence drug actions. Possible effects are manifold and can affect all stages of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in the body. Also direct interaction and inactivation of concomitantly administered substances are possible. Drug-drug interactions via modulation of metabolism present a very hot topic in pharmaceutical research and drug design. 

Scientific procedures for risk assessment include assessment of risk for human health as well as risk for the environment. A substantial part of the EU risk assessment work was in 1997 delegated to the DG SANCO, in relation to the scandal surrounding BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease ). Risk assessment work not under DG SANCO includes pharmaceuticals, working environment, and health effects caused by lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking, and alcohol consumption (EU 2006f). 

Fig. 6. Human development represents a continnnm with distinct facets associated with somatic growth, maturation of organs and organ systems, and psychosocial development. The net result is a physiologically mature human, capable of reprodnction. In the context of therapentics, it mnst be recognized that genetic constitntion, environment (including diet), concomitant disease state(s) and their treatment cnt across the continuum of development indifferential dimensions and as...

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