Open AccessMethods for Assessing the Biological Effects of Specific Plant Components
Author(s) -
Fahey Jed W.,
Clevidence Beverly A.,
Russell Robert M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
nutrition reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.958
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1753-4887
pISSN - 0029-6643
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-4887.1999.tb01805.x
Subject(s) - epidemiology , disease , medicine , data science , environmental health , risk analysis (engineering) , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , computer science , pathology
Until very recently, phytonutrient research was the province of natural product chemists and consisted of primarily anecdotal clinical references. In recent years, an extensive set of qualitative and semi‐quantitative dietary epidemiologic data has been developed. This developing base of epidemiologic data is now being supplemented by biochemical, mechanistic, and genetic epidemiology of a more quantitative nature. As we seek to understand the mechanisms that explain a large body of epidemiologic evidence, newer laboratory methods continue to be developed. Though there is a continuing need for even more discriminating nutrition epidemiology to drive the basic research in this area forward, the focus of in vitro, animal and clinical (human) studies must continue to be refined, and appropriate biomarkers for chronic and acute (death) disease end‐points must be developed.