La patata en la nutrición hospitalaria como aproximación a su introducción en la dieta urbana: el caso de Vitoria (Álava, España) / The potato in hospital nutrition as an approach to its introduction in the urban diet: the case of Vitoria (Alava, Spain)

INTRODUCCIÓN: dada la carencia de fuentes documentales históricas sobre el inicio del consumo efectivo de patata en Vitoria (Álava, España), su introducción en la dieta urbana se estima a partir de los datos de cultivo y producción. Ello solo permite aseverar la introducción del cultivo a finales del siglo XVIII, el reconocimiento de dos saltos cuantitativos durante las guerras de independencia y primera carlista, y que era el segundo cultivo en cantidad en 1857. Objetivo/método: desde la hipótesis de una buena correspondencia entre la dieta hospitalaria y la dieta ordinaria urbana, evidenciada en otros estudios para Vitoria, se propone documentar la cronología de la introducción de la patata en la dieta urbana a partir de su análisis en el hospital de la ciudad, así como contextualizar los acontecimientos históricos concurrentes mediante la revisión y el análisis de fuentes documentales primarias y secundarias. RESULTADOS: el hospital conserva el registro de alimentos adquiridos desde 1743. La primera compra de patatas se abona el 17 de septiembre de 1834. Se continúa con adquisiciones en cantidades y fechas muy variables que se normalizan a partir de 1844. Contextualmente, existe una crisis mayor de subsistencia con el cólera como causa más inmediata y necesaria en sinergia con la primera guerra carlista y la devastación de cultivos en una tormenta veraniega. En 1854 la patata está asentada en la dieta urbana. CONCLUSIONES: la primera adquisición de patatas se realizó en septiembre de 1834 en el contexto inmediato del cólera junto a la guerra carlista y efectos catastróficos meteorológicos

INTRODUCTION: given the lack of historical documentary sources about the beginning of potato effective consumption in Vitoria (Alava, Spain), its introduction in the urban diet is estimated from cultivation and production data. This only allows asserting the introduction of the cultivation at the end of the 18th century, the recognition of two quantitative jumps during the Independence and First Carlist Wars, and that it was the second cultivation in quantity by 1857. Objective/method: from the hypothesis of a good correspondence between hospital diet and ordinary urban diet, evidenced in other studies for Vitoria, it is proposed to document the chronology of potato introduction in the urban diet from its analysis in the city hospital, as well as to contextualize concurrent historical events, through the review and analysis of primary and secondary documentary sources. RESULTS: the hospital keeps a record of food acquisitions since 1743. The first purchase of potatoes was paid on September 17, 1834. Acquisitions continue in very variable quantities and dates, which are normalized from 1844. Contextually, there is a major subsistence crisis with cholera as the most immediate and necessary cause in synergy with the first carlist war and the devastation of crops in a summer storm. In 1854 the potato was established in the urban diet. CONCLUSIONS: the first acquisition of potatoes was made in September 1834 in the immediate context of cholera together with the carlist war and catastrophic weather effects

[Nutriome as the direction of the "main blow": determination of physiological needs in macro- and micronutrients, minor biologically active substances].

One of the essential parts of fundamental research in Nutrition Science is the determination of the physiological requirements of humans for energy and food substances. Research that has been carried out in this area over the past 90 years, consistently develops and improves the norms of physiological requirements for energy and nutrients for various groups of the population of the Russian Federation. In the 50 years of the last century in this research field, determining the values of daily intake for macronutrients (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates), was in the first place. Then the Era of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements) was started, and, finally, now there is the Era of minor food biologically active substances. More and more facts are accumulating about their leading role in regulating metabolism. They can be recognized as endogenous regulators, the primary vital components involved in the formation of human health. In recent years, the new definition of Nutriome is introduced into Nutrition Science. It is considered as a set of essential nutritional factors to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between human being and the environment, aimed to ensure viability, the preservation and reproduction of the species, keeping the adaptive capacity, the system of antioxidant defence, apoptosis, metabolism, and immune system function. The Nutriome is a formula for optimal nutrition, which is continually being improved and supplemented. Knowledge of this formula is the key to forming an optimal diet for a person, and, therefore, to save their health. It is evident that at the population level, the Nutriome has its characteristics, its structure for each age period of human life. The need to develop a formula for optimal nutrition and, consequently, updating nutrient-based dietary guidelines is induced by socio-economic and demographic changes in population, changes in anthropometric characteristics of children and adults, increasing prevalence of socially significant non-communicable diseases, developing studies of the significance of particular food substances and establishing the relationship between nutrition and health.

History of dietary treatment: Guelpa & Marie first report of intermittent fasting for epilepsy in 1911.

We analyzed the article of Guelpa & Marie, published in 1911 and often quoted in the history of dietary treatment, as the basis for the use of ketogenic diet to mimic fasting. In this paper, the authors treated 21 patients with a diet consisting of daily administration of 30 g of sodium sulphate for 4 days, with unlimited aqueous beverage and no food, followed by a vegetarian diet restricted to half of the ordinary intake. This is the first report of intermittent fasting as treatment strategy for epilepsy. In this case series, 15 patients did not follow properly the diet while 2 improved temporary before they quitted the diet and 4 presented an improvement.

Unpalatable Truths: Food and Drink as Medicine in Colonial British India.

This article considers the significance of eating and drinking within a series of diaries and journals produced in British colonial India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The discussion of food and drink in this context was not simply a means to add color or compelling detail to these accounts, but was instead a vital ingredient of the authors' understanding of health and medical treatment. These texts suggest a broader colonial medical understanding of the importance of regulating diet to maintain physical health. Concern with food, and the lack thereof, was understandably a key element in diaries, and in the eyewitness accounts kept by British soldiers, doctors, and civilians during the rebellion. At a narrative level, mention of food also functioned as a trope serving to increase dramatic tension and to capture an imagery of fortitude. In references to drink, by contrast, these sources reveal a conflict between professional and lay opinions regarding the use of alcohol as part of medical treatment. The accounts show the persistent use of alcohol both for medicinal and restorative purposes, despite growing social and medical anxieties over its ill-effects on the body. Close examination of these references to food and drink reflect the quotidian habits, social composition, and the extent of professional and lay knowledge of health and medicine in colonial British India.

Food As Medicine: Diet, Diabetes Management, and the Patient in Twentieth Century Britain.

In classic accounts of the development of modern medicine in Europe and North America, the sick person is often portrayed as having a history of disappearance with the rise of the objectified body of the modern patient. To this account, sociologists and historians of medicine have added another for the period after 1950, in which the patient as subjective person "reappears" in medical discourse. However, despite histories of practice and identity revising narratives of disappearance, the patient's reappearance has largely escaped further assessment. Using an analysis of dietary management in twentieth-century British diabetes care, this article challenges accounts of this reappearance in three ways. Firstly, it argues that discursive interest in the social and psychological aspects of care emerged earlier than suggested. Secondly, it grounds such interest in reconfigured institutional arrangements that were initially designed to rationalize care and improve efficiency. Finally, it argues that patients regularly exceeded the efforts of even an expanded management regime to normalize and regulate life. Food planning, preparation, and consumption continued to sit at the nexus of competing demands that mediated medical efforts to cultivate governable selves and bodies.

[Research on Japanese monograph of comprehensive dietetic materia medica, the Pao chu bei yong wo ming ben cao (Japanese Materia Medica Prepared for Kitchen)].

Japanese physicians of Edo Period (1603-1867) wrote many dietetic books, by combining the knowledge system (content and compiling style) and thoughts of diet therapy from China with local condition in Japan. Among them, the Pao chu bei yong wo ming ben cao(Japanese Materia Medica Prepared for Kitchen), written by Mukai Genshou, a physician in the early Edo, is the earliest comprehensive work of dietetic materia medica. In this book, the choice and usage of Japanese dietetic materia medica reveals obvious Japanese local color, including the name, morphology, cultivation, collection, identification, nature and flavor, and indication etc., reflecting the sprouting idea of edible herbal plant at the beginning of Edo period and the characteristic of absorbing Chinese diet thoughts by Japanese physician. This is the important first-hand historical material to understand the development of Japanese dietetic herbalism in early Edo and its dietotherapy culture.

Valoración del estado nutricional en Geriatría: declaración de consenso del Grupo de Nutrición de la Sociedad Española de Geriatría y Gerontología / Nutritional status assessment in Geriatrics: Consensus declaration by the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology Nutrition Work Group

El progresivo envejecimiento de la población es uno de los factores que influyen en el aumento de la prevalencia de desnutrición, ya que los ancianos son un colectivo de riesgo por sus características biológicas, psicológicas y sociales. A pesar de su alta prevalencia, la desnutrición está infradiagnosticada en geriatría. Por este motivo, el objetivo del presente documento de consenso es elaborar un protocolo de valoración nutricional geriátrica. En el marco de la SEGG se ha creado un equipo multidisciplinar con el objetivo de darle la debida importancia a la desnutrición y el riesgo de la misma para que sean diagnosticadas y tratadas de forma adecuada. Entre los muchos métodos validados para el cribado nutricional, el MNA-SF representa una herramienta práctica. Tras evidenciar la sospecha o la presencia de desnutrición la valoración completa prevé la realización de una historia nutricional exhaustiva. Las historias clínico-nutricional y dietética pretenden evidenciar los posibles factores de riesgo sobre la base del cuadro de desnutrición. Entonces la valoración antropométrica, asociada a los datos de laboratorio, pretende objetivar las modificaciones físicas y metabólicas asociadas a la desnutrición. Hoy en día cada vez más se tiende a profundizar en la valoración nutricional utilizando técnicas no invasivas de estudio de la composición corporal asociadas al estudio funcional. Esta última representa un índice indirecto del estado nutricional de gran interés para la geriatría. En conclusión, un correcto cribado nutricional es la base fundamental para un temprano diagnóstico de desnutrición y poder valorar la indicación al tratamiento nutricional. Para esto es fundamental fomentar la investigación en el campo de la nutrición geriátrica para aumentar el conocimiento y poder hacer cada vez más una geriatría basada en la evidencia (AU)

Ongoing population ageing is one of the factors influencing the increase in the prevalence of undernutrition, as elderly people are a vulnerable group due to their biological, psychological and social characteristics. Despite its high prevalence, undernutrition is underdiagnosed in the geriatric sphere. For this reason, the aim of this consensus document is to devise a protocol for geriatric nutritional assessment. A multidisciplinary team has been set up within the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (in Spanish Sociedad Española de Geriatría y Gerontología [SEGG]) in order to address undernutrition and risk of undernutrition so that they can be diagnosed and treated in an effective manner. The MNA-SF is a practical tool amongst the many validated methods for nutritional screening. Following suspicion of undernutrition, or after establishing the presence of undernutrition, a full assessment will include a detailed nutritional history of the patient. The compilation of clinical-nutritional and dietetic histories is intended to help in identifying the possible risk factors at the root of a patient's undernutrition. Following this, an anthropometric assessment, combined with laboratory data, will describe the patient's physical and metabolic changes associated to undernutrition. Currently, the tendency is for further nutritional assessment through the use of non-invasive techniques to study body composition in association with functional status. The latter is an indirect index for nutritional status, which is very interesting from a geriatrician's point of view. To conclude, correct nutritional screening is the fundamental basis for an early undernutrition diagnosis and to assess the need for nutritional treatment. In order to achieve this, it is fundamental to foster research in the field of nutritional geriatrics, in order to expand our knowledge base and to increasingly practice evidence-based geriatrics (AU)

[[Medicinal broths in the books by Nicolas Lemery, a reflection of scientific developments?]

From Ancient times, medicinal broths have been an integral part of the diet fed to patients and convalescents. At the end of 17th century, medical and pharmaceutical knowledge and practices were to enter a period of major upheavals. Although also hitherto discredited, chemical drugs became all the rage, work in chemistry boomed and broths benefited. Do the first editions of the works of Nicolas Lemery reflect the knowledge of his time ? Do last editions ­ revised, corrected, annotated and completed ­ really reflect transformations in scientific disciplines, technological developments, and scientific advances, particularly in chemistry?

[Food matching based on herbal properties of formulas in "Treatise on Febrile Diseases"].

Based on databases for herbal properties of formulas and foods recorded in "Treatise on Febrile Diseases", a case study was conducted for the food matching method according to herbal properties of formulas in "Treatise on Febrile Diseases". The result show that the method was technically feasible once the herbal properties of foods were determined. Moreover, according to herbal properties of target formulas, the compositions of foods were effectively defined. In this study, researchers determined the similarity between the food matching scheme and the target formulas in function and efficacy, provided a quantitative method for food formulation and promote the development of application technology of the herbal property theory and the compatibility theory.

Prescripciones dietéticas para las élites rectoras del reino de Navarra durante la primera mitad del siglo XVI: los casos de Juan Rena y Juan de Alarcón / Dietary prescriptions for the elites of the kingdom of Navarre in the 16th century: the cases of Juan Rena and Juan de Alarcón

Se analizan y transcriben cuatro prescripciones dietéticas para el clérigo de origen veneciano Juan Rena y su servidor Juan de Alarcón, fechadas en la primera mitad del siglo XVI y conservadas en el Archivo General de Navarra. Muestran el interés de médicos y pacientes por la dietética, entendida como el conjunto de medidas higiénico-sanitarias basadas en las res naturales y res non naturales galénicas. Estas cuatro prescripciones están estrechamente relacionadas con un género de literatura médica (regímenes de salud ad personam o consilia) hasta ahora poco estudiado para la España renacentista. Los casos que aquí se exponen evidencian el aprecio entre las clases altas por la posesión de recursos terapéuticos adaptados a las necesidades individuales, que se copiaban y recopilaban para un uso personal (AU)

The aim of this article is to present and analyse four dietary prescriptions from the 16th century prepared for Juan Rena, a cleric of Venetian origin, and his servant Juan de Alarcón, which are kept at the Archivo General de Navarra. These documents demonstrate the interest of the patients and physicians in dietetics, understood as a group of health and hygienic measures based on the Galenic res naturales and res non naturales. These four prescriptions are closely related to the ad personam or consilia health regimens, which represent a genre of medical literature whose significance in Renaissance Spain has received little attention. The cases studied reveal the high esteem in which the elites held the possession of therapeutic resources adapted to their individual needs, which were compiled and copied for personal use (AU)

La creación de un nuevo mercado alimentario en España; las vitaminas en la prensa periódica (1917-1950) / The creation of a new nutritional market in Spain: Vitamins in the press (1917-1950)

Objetivo: Analizar el grado en el que las vitaminas jugaron un papel en la estrategia de creación de un nuevo mercado de alimentos, alimentos-medicamento y especialidades farmacéuticas en España durante la primera mitad del siglo XX. Material y métodos: Se estudiaron todas las menciones a las vitaminas aparecidas en los diarios "ABC", "Heraldo de Madrid", "El Imparcial", "El Liberal" y "El Sol", publicados en Madrid; "La Vanguardia", publicado en Barcelona, y en el semanario "Blanco y Negro" entre 1917 y 1950. La fecha inicial, 1917, se fijó por ser el año en el que aparecieron las primeras noticias sobre vitaminas. La fecha final, 1950, se fijó por considerarse concluida la etapa más dura de la autarquía impuesta por el Franquismo. Las noticias aparecidas se clasificaron en las categorías: consejos dietéticos, curiosidades, noticias científicas, noticias económicas, noticias políticas, trivialidades y uso metafórico. Resultados: Los anuncios que usaron las vitaminas dentro de su estrategia comercial son el apartado más importante en el que se utiliza el concepto vitaminas con porcentajes superiores, en casi todos los casos, al 50%. Las noticias científicas sobre vitaminas le siguen en importancia. Las menciones a las vitaminas en el resto de categorías son inferiores al 5%. Conclusiones: Las vitaminas constituyen un elemento fundamental en la creación de un nuevo mercado de productos en España en la primera mitad del siglo XX, a juzgar por las menciones que aparecen en la prensa periódica analizada (AU)

Aim: To analyze the extent to which vitamins played a role in the strategy to create a new market of food, foodmedicines, and medicines in Spain during the first half of the twentieth century. Materials and methods: A study was made of references to vitamins in the years between 1917 and 1950 in the daily newspapers "ABC", "Heraldo de Madrid", "El Imparcial", "El Liberal" and "El Sol", published in Madrid, "La Vanguardia", published in Barcelona, and the weekly publication "Blanco y Negro". The starting date was selected as the year in which the first news of vitamins appeared. The year 1950 marked the end of the harshest stage of autarky imposed by Franco’s regime. The news that appeared was classified in the following categories: scientific news, nutritional advice, advertising, economy, politics, anecdotes and metaphors. Results: The advertisements that used vitamins as part of their marketing strategy are the most important section with over 50% of total references to the vitamin concept in almost all the newspapers. Scientific news on vitamins ranks second in importance. References to vitamins in the remaining categories were below 5%. Conclusions: Judging by the references which appear in the most important newspapers of the time vitamins represent a fundamental element in the creation of a new food product market in Spain in the first half of the twentieth century (AU)

25 años de investigación en nutrición y alimentación en el espacio iberoamericano del conocimiento / 25 years in nutrition and food research in the iberoamerican knowledge área

Introducción: La investigación suele considerarse un indicador del grado de desarrollo. La investigación de un área problemática como la alimentación y nutrición para una determinada región, debería tener un impacto sobre la producción científica en consonancia con la importancia del problema, la capacidad investigadora y los recursos disponibles para generar dicha investigación. Objetivo: Conocer algunos indicadores de la investigación iberoamericana en nutrición y alimentación. Método: Estudio retrospectivo de la producción científica iberoamericana en nutrición y alimentación en los últimos 25 años. Los datos se obtuvieron de la base bibliográfica Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI), Journal Citation Reports Database. Science edition 2011 (Web of Knowledge, Thomson Reuters), y la base de datos del Banco Mundial. Resultados: Se registraron 49.808 artículos, el 3,20% de la producción en Ciencias de la Salud recogida en SCI. La evolución se ajustó al modelo exponencial, N&D (R2 0,962) y FS&T (R2 0,995). La producción media en N&D por población media fue mayor en España con 0,659 artículos/millón. Los mayores índices de productividad y rentabilidad se presentaron en Guatemala 12,963 artículos/1.000 investigadores, y 1,486 artículos/ millón $ respectivamente. La producción media en FS&T de los países por población media fue mayor en Cuba con 21,624 artículos/millón. El índice de productividad fue mayor en Uruguay con 25,999 artículos/mil investigadores. El índice de rentabilidad fue mayor en Guatemala con 0,271 artículos/ millón $. Conclusiones: Existe crecimiento exponencial en las dos categorías estudiadas, N&D y FS&T. La productividad y rentabilidad fue mayor en países con bajo presupuesto en I+D (AU)

Introduction: Research is usually considered a reliable indicator of the degree of development. Research in a problematic area such as food and nutrition for a given region, should have an impact on scientific production in agreement with the importance of the problem, the research capacity and the available resources for generating such a research. Objective: To identify some indicators of Iberoamerican research in nutrition and food. Method: Retrospective study of Iberoamerican scientific production in nutrition and food in the last 25 years. The data were obtained from the bibliographic database Science Citation Index Expanded, Journal Citation Reports Science Edition Database 2011, both included in the Web of Knowledge (Thomson Reuters), and the database of the World Bank. Results: 49,808 papers were registered, the 3.20% of the Health Sciences collection in SCI. The evolution was fitted to an exponential model, N&D (R2 0.962) and FS&T (R2 0.995). The average production in N&D per average population was higher in Spain with 0.659 papers/million. The highest rates of productivity and profitability were f oundin Guatemala with 12.963 papers/1000 researchers and 1.486 papers/million $ respectively. The average production in FS&T of the different countries per average population was higher in Cuba with 21.624 papers/million. The productivity index was higher in Uruguay with 25.999 papers/thousand researchers. The profitability index was higher in Guatemala with 0.271 papers/million $. Conclusion: There is exponential growth in the two categories studied N&D and FS&T. Productivity and profitability was higher in countries with low R&D (Research & Development) budget (AU)