Diets could prevent many diseases

The 2002 ISSFAL Meeting arranged a special evening discussion with professional dietitians about diet-tissue-disease relationships involving essential fatty acids and eicosanoids. The balance of eicosanoid precursors in human tissues differs widely, reflecting voluntary dietary choices among different groups worldwide. An empirical quantitative diet-tissue relationship fits these diverse values as well as other research reports on essential fatty acid metabolism. Information for dietitians and nutritionists about essential fatty acids and eicosanoids is also given in two distance learning web sites, http://ods.od.nih.gov/eicosanoids/ and http:// efaeducation.nih.gov/, which facilitate dietitian education and diet counseling. These sites also have an innovative, interactive diet planning software program with the empirical equation embedded in it to help evaluate personal food choices in the context of the diet-tissue-disease relationship and other widely recommended dietary advice.