Diets

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More about Diets: Purpose Precautions Side effects Research and general acceptance Resources

Definition

Humans may alter their usual eating habits for many reasons, including weight loss, disease prevention or treatment, removing toxins from the body, or to achieve a general improvement in physical and mental health. Others adopt special diets for religious reasons. In the case of some vegetarians and vegans, dietary changes are made out of ethical concerns for the rights of animals.

Description

The practice of altering diet for special reasons has existed since antiquity. For example, Judaism has included numerous dietary restrictions for thousands of years. One ancient Jewish sect, the Essenes, is said to have developed a primitive detoxification diet aimed at preparing the bodies, minds, and spirits of its members for the coming of a "messiah" who would deliver them from their Roman captors. Preventative and therapeutic diets became quite popular during the late twentieth century. Books promoting the latest dietary plan continue to make the bestseller lists, although not all of the information given is considered authoritative.

The idea of a healthful diet is to provide all of the calories and nutrients needed by the body for optimal performance, at the same time ensuring that neither nutritional deficiencies nor excesses occur. Diet plans that claim to accomplish those objectives are so numerous they are virtually uncountable. These diets employ a variety of approaches, including the following:

• Fixed-menu: Offers little choice to the dieter. Specifies exactly which foods will be consumed. Easy to follow, but may be considered "boring" to some dieters.
• Formula: Replaces some or all meals with a nutritionally balanced liquid formula or powder.
• Exchange-type: Allows the dieter to choose between selected foods from each food group.
• Flexible: Doesn't concern itself with the overall diet, simply with one aspect such as fat or energy.

Diets may also be classified according to the types of foods they allow. For example, an omnivorous diet consists of both animal and plant foods, whereas a lactoovo-vegetarian diet permits no animal flesh, but does include eggs, milk, and dairy products. A vegan diet is a stricter form of vegetarianism in which eggs, cheese, and other milk products are prohibited.

A third way of classifying diets is according to their purpose: religious, weight-loss, detoxification, lifestyle-related, or aimed at prevention or treatment of a specific disease.

— David Helwig

Dictionary: di·et¹  (dī'ĭt)

1. The usual food and drink of a person or animal.
2. A regulated selection of foods, as for medical reasons or cosmetic weight loss.
3. Something used, enjoyed, or provided regularly: subsisted on a diet of detective novels during his vacation.

1. Of or relating to a food regimen designed to promote weight loss in a person or an animal: the diet industry.
2. 1. Having fewer calories.
   2. Sweetened with a noncaloric sugar substitute.
3. Designed to reduce or suppress the appetite: diet pills; diet drugs.

To eat and drink according to a regulated system, especially so as to lose weight or control a medical condition.

To regulate or prescribe food and drink for.

[Middle English diete, from Old French, from Latin diaeta, way of living, diet, from Greek diaita, back-formation from diaitāsthai, to live one's life, middle voice of diaitān, to treat.]

A diet is a pattern of food consumption which is followed by a population or an individual. The diets of populations are affected by local factors including geography, climate, food availability, culture, and religion, whereas the diets of individuals within populations are further influenced by factors such as socio-economic status, personal preference, and health considerations. To maintain life, all diets must supply the essential amounts of energy, protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, but these needs can be met by a wide variety of diets, each of which will be sufficient for growth, survival, and reproduction but may also have obvious or subtle effects on the long-term state of health.

Traditional diets

The traditional diets of populations around the world vary greatly. The diet of Inuit hunters in the Arctic is composed almost entirely of meat and fish, but most hunter-gatherers in other parts of the world obtain more food from gathering plants than from hunting animals. Pastoralists keep different animals according to where they live, varying from reindeer in the north to camels in hot arid areas, but they always have a diet rich in animal foods such as milk, meat, and blood. Peasant agriculturalists grow different staple crops according to local conditions, but usually have diets composed largely of plant foods with only small amounts of animal foods.

The traditional diets of populations have been followed for hundreds or thousands of years and, except in times of severe food shortage, are certainly compatible with the maintenance of health sufficient for the survival and growth of infants and children, and for successful reproduction. However, traditional diets are sometimes far from optimal and may be accompanied by serious nutritional disorders, from which the people may have suffered for many generations. For example, approximately one-fifth of the population of the world is at significant risk for developing iodine deficiency disorders; pellagra was formerly common in populations subsisting largely on maize due to deficiency in the vitamin niacin and the amino acid tryptophan; and high blood pressure and stroke are common in populations with a diet high in salt.

‘Western’ diets

The diets of affluent Western populations changed very rapidly during the twentieth century. In comparison with the diets of peasant agriculturalists, Western diets are usually much higher in animal protein and fat and much lower in starch and dietary fibre, and ample food is available throughout the year. It is well known that Westernization of the diet is usually associated with increases in the rates of some diseases, such as ischaemic heart disease, large bowel cancer, and obesity, but it should also be appreciated that Westernization is generally accompanied by an increase in overall life expectancy and by decreases in the rates of some diet-related diseases such as stomach cancer, as well as decreases in the incidence of most infectious diseases.

Diets for health

Within Western populations, the word ‘diet’ is commonly used to refer to patterns of food consumption which are followed for reasons of health or for ethical or religious reasons (vegetarian and vegan diets are discussed in separate entries). A good diet is of profound importance for the maintenance of good health; nutritional deficiencies severe enough to cause obvious diseases such as scurvy and pellagra are now very rare in Western societies, but diet is a major determinant of the risk for developing many of the commonest fatal diseases, including ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and cancers of the large bowel and stomach.

The commonest type of diet followed for health reasons is one intended to cause weight loss in the treatment of overweight, and the term dieting is often assumed to refer to a weight-reduction diet. Numerous types of weight-reducing diets have been marketed. Most will cause some initial weight loss, but this is difficult to maintain because obesity is associated with the typical Western lifestyle of low physical activity and constant availability of highly palatable, energy-dense foods.

After obesity, the most common reason for requiring dietary changes is a high blood cholesterol concentration and associated ischaemic heart disease. The blood cholesterol concentration is increased by diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Reducing the intake of these factors causes a reduction in blood cholesterol, but most individuals find it difficult to change their diet sufficiently to have more than a small effect. Other diets followed for health reasons include low salt diets for the reduction of raised blood pressure and gluten-free diets for individuals with coeliac disease.

High-fibre diets have become popular since the work of Denis Burkitt and others in the early 1970s. Fibre is now defined as non-starch polysaccharides, and is supplied by unrefined cereals, vegetables, and fruits. Fibre has several benefits, including the prevention of constipation and probably reducing the risk for coronary heart disease and cancer of the large bowel.

The topic of diet and health is covered extensively by the media and many people are confused as to what constitutes a healthy diet. Government bodies in many countries now make dietary recommendations. In Britain, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) reviews various aspects of the relationship of diet with health. In their recent report on nutritional aspects of cardiovascular disease, COMA made several recommendations for adults, including that total fat and saturated fat should provide no more than 35% and 10% respectively of food energy, that average salt intake should be reduced to 6 g per day, and that the consumption of vegetables, fruit, potatoes, and bread should be increased by at least 50%. These recommendations reflect a growing consensus that a healthy diet should be based on starch-rich foods such as cereals and should include generous quantities of fruit and vegetables. This type of diet is also rich in dietary fibre and many vitamins, and the emphasis is on supplying these nutrients from ordinary foods rather than from special high-fibre foods or vitamin supplements.

Future needs — more science in the choice of diets for populations and individuals

Traditional diets have evolved out of necessity, to be sufficient for life, but are often far short of ideal. Western diets have come from traditional roots but have been radically changed by affluence, developments in agriculture and food processing, advertising, fashion, etc. Most people now eat a diet determined by a mixture of tradition, availability, convenience, taste, and peer pressure. The health effects of the resulting mix are themselves mixed, with some diet-related health problems decreasing and others increasing. We already have sufficient knowledge to do much better than this, and need to introduce more science into all the components of society which affect food consumption, including agricultural policy and the education of children, caterers, and politicians. Evidence from sound scientific studies should be continually fed into society with the aim of producing improvements in the health of the population and in the optimal use of land and other resources.

— Tim Key

Bibliography

• Report of the Cardiovascular Review Group Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (1994). Nutritional aspects of cardiovascular disease. HMSO, London

See also dieting; food; health foods; vegan; vegetarian; entries on the separate dietary constituents.

noun

Something fit to be eaten: aliment, bread, comestible, edible, esculent, fare, food, foodstuff, meat, nourishment, nurture, nutriment, nutrition, pabulum, pap, provender, provision (used in plural), sustenance, victual. Slang chow, eats, grub. See ingestion.

Definition: abstinence from food
Antonyms: binge, overindulgence

v

Definition: abstain from food
Antonyms: gorge, indulge

Definition

Humans may alter their usual eating habits for many reasons, including weight loss, disease prevention or treatment, removing toxins from the body, or to achieve a general improvement in physical and mental health. Others adopt special diets for religious reasons. In the case of some vegetarians and vegans, dietary changes are made out of ethical concerns for the rights of animals.

Origins

The practice of altering diet for special reasons has existed since antiquity. For example, Judaism has included numerous dietary restrictions for thousands of years. One ancient Jewish sect, the Essenes, is said to have developed a primitive detoxification diet aimed at preparing the bodies, minds, and spirits of its members for the coming of a "messiah" who would deliver them from their Roman captors. Preventative and therapeutic diets became quite popular during the late twentieth century. Books promoting the latest dietary plan continue to make the bestseller lists, although not all of the information given is considered authoritative.

Benefits

People who are moderately to severely overweight can derive substantial health benefits from a weight-loss

diet. A weight reduction of just 10 to 20 pounds can result in reduced cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure. Weight-related health problems include heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high levels of blood sugar and cholesterol.

In individuals who are not overweight, dietary changes may also be useful in the prevention or treatment of a range of ailments including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), cancer, osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic pulmonary disease, renal disease, Parkinson's disease, seizure disorders, and food allergies and intolerances.

Description

The idea of a healthful diet is to provide all of the calories and nutrients needed by the body for optimal performance, at the same time ensuring that neither nutritional deficiencies nor excesses occur. Diet plans that claim to accomplish those objectives are so numerous they are virtually uncountable. These diets employ a variety of approaches, including the following:

• Fixed-menu: Offers little choice to the dieter. Specifies exactly which foods will be consumed. Easy to follow, but may be considered "boring" to some dieters.
• Formula: Replaces some or all meals with a nutritionally balanced liquid formula or powder.
• Exchange-type: Allows the dieter to choose between selected foods from each food group.
• Flexible: Doesn't concern itself with the overall diet, simply with one aspect such as fat or energy.

Diets may also be classified according to the types of foods they allow. For example, an omnivorous diet consists of both animal and plant foods, whereas a lactoovo-vegetarian diet permits no animal flesh, but does include eggs, milk, and dairy products. A vegan diet is a stricter form of vegetarianism in which eggs, cheese, and other milk products are prohibited.

A third way of classifying diets is according to their purpose: religious, weight-loss, detoxification, lifestyle-related, or aimed at prevention or treatment of a specific disease.

Precautions

Dieters should be cautious about plans that severely restrict the size of food portions, or that eliminate entire food groups from the diet. It is highly probable that they will become discouraged and drop out of such programs. The best diet is one that can be maintained indefinitely without ill effects, that offers sufficient variety and balance to provide everything needed for good health, and that is considerate of personal food preferences.

Fad diets for quick weight loss are coming under increasing fire, since dieters seldom maintain the weight loss. In 2001, researchers found that three times as many people on moderate fat weight loss diets stuck to their plan compared to those on traditional low-fat diets. Not only do many diets offer only short-term and rapid weight loss, some can be bad for the dieter's health. For instance, the American Heart Association made a statement in late 2001 questioning the value of high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. The association said that the diets don't work over the long term and that they can pose some health risks to dieters. In 2003, these statements were largely supported. Though clinical trials showed that these types of diets worked in lowering weight without raising cholesterol for the short-term, many of the participants gained a percentage of the weight back after only one year. A physician group also spoke out about high protein diets' dangers for people with decreased kidney function and the risk of bone loss due to decreased calcium intake.

Low-fat diets are not recommended for children under the age of two. Young children need extra fat to maintain their active, growing bodies. Fat intake may be gradually reduced between the ages of two and five, after which it should be limited to a maximum of 30% of total calories through adulthood. Saturated fat should be restricted to no more than 10% of total calories.

Weight-loss dieters should be wary of the "yo-yo" effect that occurs when numerous attempts are made to reduce weight using high-risk, quick-fix diets. This continued "cycling" between weight loss and weight gain can slow the basal metabolic rate and can sometimes lead to eating disorders. The dieter may become discouraged and frustrated by this success/failure cycle. The end result of yo-yo dieting is that it becomes more difficult to maintain a healthy weight.

Caution should also be exercised about weight-loss diets that require continued purchases of special prepackaged foods. Not only do these tend to be costly and over-processed, they may also prevent dieters from learning the food-selection and preparation skills essential to maintenance of weight loss. Further, dieters should consider whether they want to carry these special foods to work, restaurants, or homes of friends.

Concern has been expressed about weight-loss diet plans that do not include exercise, considered essential to long-term weight management. Some diets and supplements may be inadvisable for patients with special conditions or situations. In fact, use of the weight loss supplement ephedra was found to cause serious conditions such as heart attack and stroke. In 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was considering controlling or banning the supplement. In short, most physician organizations see fad diets as distracting from learning how to achieve weight control over the long term through healthy lifestyle changes such as eating smaller, more balanced meals and exercising regularly.

Certain fad diets purporting to be official diets of groups such as the American Heart Association and the Mayo Clinic are in no way endorsed by those institutions. Patients thinking of starting such a diet should check with the institution to ensure its name has not been misappropriated by an unscrupulous practitioner.

Side Effects

A wide range of side effects (some quite serious) can result from special diets, especially those that are nutritionally unbalanced. Further problems can arise if the dieter is taking high doses of dietary supplements. Food is essential to life, and improper nutrition can result in serious illness or death.

Research & General Acceptance

It is agreed among traditional and complementary practitioners that many patients could substantially benefit from improved eating habits. Specialized diets have proved effective against a wide variety of conditions and diseases. However, dozens of unproved but widely publicized "fad diets" emerge each year, prompting widespread concerns about their usefulness, cost to the consumer, and their safety.

Training & Certification

A wide variety of practitioners provide advice on dietary matters. These range from unregulated, uncertified alternative practitioners, to registered dietitians, medical doctors, and specialists. Nutritional advice can also be obtained from home economists and from college or university nutrition departments.

Resources

Periodicals

"American College of Preventive Medicine Weighs in Against Fad Diets." Obesity and Diabetes Week (March 17, 2003): 7.

"Atkins Diet Vindicated But Long-term Success Questionable." Obesity, Fitness and Wellness Week (June 14, 2003): 25.

Cerrato, Paul C. "AHA Questions High-protein Weight-loss Diets" Contemporary OB/GYN 46, no. 12 (December 2001): 107-112.

"Healthy Fat Superior to Low-fat diet for Long-term Weight Loss" Obesity, Fitness and Wellness Week (November 10, 2001): 2.

"High-protein Diets Risky for Bones and Kidneys." Health Science (Spring 2003): 9.

Kirn, Timothy F. "FDA Probes Ephedra, Proposes Warning Label (Risk of Heart Attack, Seizure, Stroke)." Clinical Psychiatry News (April 2003):49.

Organizations

American Dietetic Association. 216 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60606-6995. (312) 899-0040. http://www.eatright.org.

[Article by: David Helwig; Teresa G. Odle]

The Buddha's advice concerning dietary habits is addressed primarily to those who have embraced the monastic life rather than to lay society. An important principle underlying Buddhist monasticism is that monks should be dependent upon the laity for alms and should go out daily into the local community to beg for food. It is a familiar sight in the Buddhist countries of south Asia to see a line of saffron-clad monks walking soberly in single file from house to house and pausing with downcast eyes while offerings of food are placed in their bowls by the laity. After completing their round the monks return to the monastery where they must consume their food before midday. Thereafter, except in case of illness, they may take only liquids before the next day. The Buddha commended the practice of eating but once a day for its benefits in terms of overall mental and physical well-being.

As regards the type of food that may be consumed, the general principle is that monks should accept with gratitude whatever they are given and not be selective in preferring or rejecting particular dishes. In Theravāda Buddhism there is no prohibition on eating meat providing that the monk has not ‘seen, heard or suspected’ that the animal was slaughtered specifically on his behalf, thus avoiding complicity in the breaking of the First Precept (see pañca-śīla) against taking life. To understand this, one must first separate the issues of killing animals from that of eating meat. While the first is definitely demeritorious and productive of bad karma, the second may not be. The Buddha himself is said to have died after consuming pork, although the precise nature of this dish has been disputed (see sūkara-maddava). Since Buddhism is concerned primarily with the effect that moral actions have on the development of mental states and habits, it observes that actually killing an animal requires a state of mind characterized by anger, cruelty, or indifference, while simply eating meat carries no such strong signature. Thus, the Buddha did not categorically prohibit his followers from eating meat, even when it was suggested to him as a way of intensifying the religious practice of the community. Ten specific kinds of flesh, however, were thought to be inappropriate for human consumption, for instance, the flesh of elephants, tigers, and serpents. Monks and lay-people in Theravāda countries still consume meat although they may refrain from it on certain days and they also regard the occupation of butchery as being a form of wrong livelihood. Thus, early Buddhism shows what might be termed a mixed attitude: it recommends that no one make their living as a hunter or butcher, and certainly commends those who undertake a commitment to vegetarianism, but constantly asks that those who do so examine their motives and thoughts for any trace of rigid attachment to views and precepts, and does not tar those who eat meat with the same brush as those who produce the meat. As well as the Theravāda countries, this is especially true in Tibet and Mongolia, where the harsh and cold climate make the mass adoption of a vegetarian lifestyle impractical. Meat-eating was accepted in Tibetan Buddhist circles on account of the lack of vegetable produce in Tibet, and today even the Dalai Lama does not follow a wholly vegetarian diet.

The advent of Mahāyāna in India saw a movement towards the total abstention from meat-eating as this was felt to contradict a Bodhisattva's cultivation of compassion. Additionally, a number of Mahāyāna texts such as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Laṇkāvatāra Sūtra are quite specific in their condemnation of meat-eating, as the tathāgata-garbha or Buddha-nature doctrines they teach imply that all living beings are embryonic Buddhas. The popularity of these texts in east Asia has resulted in almost universal vegetarianism among members of the Saṃgha. In east Asian cultures, one of the standard ways of caricaturing wayward clergy and monasteries was to accuse them of ‘eating meat and drinking wine’. China has kept to this practice very strictly, and has thus developed a very sophisticated and tasty repertoire of vegetarian cuisine, all the more surprising since the same scripture also teaches (as does the Vinaya) the avoidance of the Five Pungent Herbs (onions, garlic, scallions, leeks, and chives). The term ‘vegetarian’ is not entirely accurate in describing the ideal diet among Buddhists in east Asia, since the term implies only the avoidance of meat. Although the ideal Buddhist diet in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam certainly proscribes meat, the term used, chih su (‘eat vegetarian’) or su shih (‘vegetarian diet’) also indicates an avoidance of alcohol and the Five Pungent Herbs. The proscriptions on meat and alcohol are explained as fulfilling the requirements of several sets of rules, including the Five Precepts for laymen (pañca-śīla) and the Ten Novice's Precepts against killing and taking intoxicants. The rule against the Five Pungent Herbs is derived from the eighth fascicle of the Laṇkāvatāra Sūtra, which explains that these are very ‘hot’ vegetables that will act as an aphrodisiac and make practice difficult, in addition to which they make the breath foul, which drives away any potential audience one might have for preaching the Dharma, drives away protective deities, and attracts demons. Japan and Korea, while sharing this concern for vegetarianism early in their history, have in recent centuries been more tolerant of meat-eating among the clergy, while still admiring vegetarianism as an additional discipline that some may choose.

In nutrition, the diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. Although humans are omnivores, each culture holds some food preferences and some food taboos. Individual dietary choices may be more or less healthy. Proper nutrition requires the proper ingestion and equally important, the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and fuel in the form of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Dietary habits and choices play a significant role in health and mortality, and can also define cultures and play a role in religion.

Cultural dietary choices

Some cultures and religions have restrictions concerning what foods are acceptable in a diet. For example, only Kosher foods are permitted by Judaism, and Halal/Haram foods by Islam, in the diet of believers.^[1] In addition, the dietary choices of different countries or regions have different characteristics. For instance, Americans eat more red meat than people in most other countries, and Japanese eat more fish and rice. Rice and beans are typical parts of a diet in Latin-American countries, while lentils and pita bread are typical in the Middle East. This is highly related to a culture's cuisine.

Concerns about foodborne illness have long influenced diet. Traditionally humans have learned to avoid foods that induce acute illness. Some believe that this is the underlying rationale behind some traditional religious dietary requirements.

Individual dietary choices

Many individuals choose to limit what foods they eat for reasons of health, morality, or other factors. Additionally, many people choose to forgo food from animal sources to varying degrees; see vegetarianism, veganism, fruitarianism, living foods diet, and raw foodism.

The nutrient content of diets in industrialised countries contain more animal fat, sugar, energy, alcohol and less dietary fiber, carbohydrates and antioxidants. Contemporary changes to work, family and exercise patterns, together with concerns about the effect of nutrition and overeating on human health and mortality are all having an effect on traditional eating habits. Physicians and alternative medicine practitioners may recommend changes to diet as part of their recommendations for treatment.^[2]

More recently, dietary habits have been influenced by the concerns that some people have about possible impacts on health or the environment from genetically modified food.^[3] Further concerns about the impact of industrial farming on animal welfare, human health and the environment are also having an effect on contemporary human dietary habits. This has led to the emergence of a counterculture with a preference for organic and local food.^[4]

Diets for weight management

Main article: Dieting

A particular diet may be chosen to seek weight gain, weight loss, sports training, cardio-vascular health, avoidance of cancers, food allergies and for other reasons. Changing a subject's dietary intake, or "going on a diet", can change the energy balance and increase or decrease the amount of fat stored by the body. Some foods are specifically recommended, or even altered, for conformity to the requirements of a particular diet. Foods intended to help produce weight loss are frequently labeled "diet foods". These diets are often recommended in conjunction with exercise. Recent findings strongly suggest that one's environment can have a dramatic influence in how much they unknowingly eat. These findings also suggest that a good deal of weight can be easily or "mindlessly lost" by making small changes in our environment that enable us to eat less and enjoy it more.^[5]

Dietary health

Imbalances between the consumed fuels and expended energy results in either starvation or excessive reserves of organ tissue, known as body fat.^[6] Poor intake of various vitamins and minerals can lead to diseases which can have far-reaching effects on health. For instance, 30% of the world's population either has, or is at risk for developing, Iodine deficiency.^[7] It is estimated that at least 3 million children are blind due to vitamin A deficiency.^[8] Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy.^[9] Calcium, Vitamin D and Phosphorus are inter-related; the consumption of each may affect the absorption of the others. Kwashiorkor and marasmus are childhood disorders caused by lack of dietary protein.^[10] Obesity, a serious problem in the western world, leads to higher chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and many other diseases.^[11]

An eating disorder is a mental disorder that interferes with normal food consumption. Eating disorders often affect people with a negative body image. There is growing evidence that making small changes in one's environment is showing to gradually improve such disorders and return people to a more healthy pattern of eating.^[12]

Diet table

Food Type	Carnivore	Omnivore	Vegan	Vegetarian	Halal	Kosher
Vegetables
Poultry
Fish (scaled)
Seafood (non-fish)					*
Beef
Pork
Dairy

See also

• American Dietetic Association
• Dietary supplement
• Functional food
• Food faddism
• List of diets

Notes

1. ^ Simoons, Frederick J.. Eat Not This Flesh: Food Avoidances from Prehistory to the Present. ISBN 0-299-14250-7. 
2. ^ Carpenter, Ruth Ann; Finley, Carrie E. (January 1, 2005). Healthy Eating Every Day. Human Kinetics. ISBN 0-7360-5186-4. 
3. ^ Parekh, Sarad R. (January 1, 2004). The Gmo Handbook: Genetically Modified Animals, Microbes, and Plants in Biotechnology. Humana Press, pp. 187-206. ISBN 1-58829-307-6. 
4. ^ Schor, Juliet; Taylor, Betsy (editors) (January 20, 2003). Sustainable Planet: Roadmaps for the Twenty-First Century. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-0455-3. 
5. ^ Brian Wansink (2006), Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, New York: Bantam-Dell.
6. ^ Nicklas, Barbara J. (January 1, 2002). Endurance Exercise and Adipose Tissue. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-0460-1. 
7. ^ Merson, Michael H.; Black, Robert E.; Mills, Anne J. (January 1, 2005). International Public Health: Disease, Programs, Systems, and Policies. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, pp. 245. ISBN. 
8. ^ ibid, pp. 231.
9. ^ ibid, pp. 464.
10. ^ ibid, pp. 224.
11. ^ ibid, pp. 266-268.
12. ^ Brian Wansink (2006), Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, New York: Bantam-Dell.

External links

• World Health Organization site on diet and physical activity
• Diet, Nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases by a Joint WHO/FAO Expert consultation (2003)
• U.S. government diet recommendations

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - diæt, kost, kostplan
v. intr. - være på diæt, spise
v. tr. - sætte på diæt

idioms:

• be on a diet    være på diæt

2.
n. - rigsdag, lovgivende forsamling, periode hvor retten er sat

Nederlands (Dutch)
dieet, rijk-/land-/ zitting(sdag), een dieet volgen, op dieet stellen

Français (French)
1.
n. - alimentation, (Méd) régime, diète
v. intr. - suivre un régime
v. tr. - mettre au régime/à la diète

idioms:

• be on a diet    être/se mettre au régime/à la diète

2.
n. - (Pol) diète

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Diät, Schlankheitskur, Schonkost, Kost
v. - eine Diät machen

idioms:

• be on a diet    Diät halten

2.
n. - Parlament, Reichstag

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δίαιτα, διαιτητική αγωγή, διαιτολόγιο, διατροφή, δίαιτα, συνέλευση
v. - υποβάλλομαι σε δίαιτα, κάνω δίαιτα

idioms:

• be on a diet    είμαι σε δίαιτα, κάνω δίαιτα

Italiano (Italian)
essere a dieta, dieta

idioms:

• be on a diet    essere a dieta

Português (Portuguese)
n. - dieta (f)
v. - fazer regime

idioms:

• be on a diet    estar de dieta

Русский (Russian)
соблюдать диету, диета, сессия

idioms:

• be on a diet    сидеть на диете

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - dieta, régimen alimenticio, ración
v. intr. - estar a régimen o a dieta
v. tr. - régimen alimenticio, alimentar

idioms:

• be on a diet    estar a régimen o a dieta

2.
n. - asamblea legislativa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - diet, föda, kost, församling
v. - sätta på diet, banta

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
1. 饮食, 食物, 特种饮食, 进规定的饮食, 节食, 忌食, 照规定饮食

idioms:

• be on a diet    进规定的饮食, 在减肥中

2. 议会, 国会

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 議會, 國會

2.
n. - 飲食, 食物, 特種飲食
v. intr. - 進規定的飲食, 節食, 忌食
v. tr. - 照規定飲食

idioms:

• be on a diet    進規定的飲食, 在減肥中

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 음식물, 식이 요법, 정해진 식사
v. intr. - 정해진 식사를 취하다
v. tr. - 정해진 식사를 주다

idioms:

• be on a diet    정해진 식사를 취하다

2.
n. - 국회

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 食事, 規定食, 食じ療法, ダイエット, 国会, 食品
v. - 食じ療法をする, ダイエットする

idioms:

• be on a diet    ダイエット中

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الطعام والشراب الذي يتناول على نحو منتظم, الحميه, طعام وشراب معين مسموح فقط تناوله لأسباب طبيه أو لتخفيف الوزن (فعل) يتناول طعام وشراب معين فقط, يتبع نظاما خاصا للتغذيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮דיאטה, תפריט, תזונה, אסיפה, ועידה‬
v. intr. - ‮שמר על דיאטה‬
v. tr. - ‮ציווה דיאטה‬
n. - ‮אסיפה מחוקקת במספר מדינות (למשל יפן)‬

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