Food for thought

Do certain kinds of food contain pharmacologically active substances in concentrations that are high enough to have druglike effects when consumed? Are biologically active compounds in food indicative of therapeutic value? Is traditional drug development suitable for testing the merits of food? Is it ethical to test food as a drug on patients? Will dietary disease management remain a pipedream? Is it a fact or fantasy that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial to health? Is a vegetarian diet an elimination therapy, or one of supplementation? What can be learned from animals? Are humans losing the capability of listening to their bodies? In this review, we will address these questions--providing food for thought.