The History of Food, Society, and Medicine

Have you ever thought about what children eat in other countries? Well, there might be some similarities, but it is definitely not the same things you eat. The foods we eat are not just for filling our stomachs; our foods are full of stories, traditions, and beliefs (Figure 1). The moments spent gathering ingredients, preparing, and savoring dishes are part of our cultural experiences and overall wellbeing. Each culture and individual person gives food a different meaning.

Here is an example: everyone loves chocolate! However, people have thought about chocolate in different ways through History. Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican people used cacao beans in rituals. They also used it as money. Drinks and foods prepared with cacao were exclusive to important people like emperors, warriors, and priests. In Mexico, chocolate, a modern product of cacao, is still an offering for our loved ones on the Day of the Dead. In many places, people use chocolate as a symbol during rituals. Food is also an important theme in art. You may have seen paintings of feasts with many delicious treats.

And it was not only Mesoamerica, various cultures, including ancient China and India, have recognized the crucial link between food and wellbeing. Even Hippocrates, the famous “Father of Medicine”, refused to accept that diseases were divine punishments. Instead, his famous words, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, recognize the impact of food on our health. Many cultures still use food as medicine, showing how important it is in promoting wellness.

Thanks to modern scientific discoveries, scientists now know that ancient knowledge about food holds more truth than we realized. They now understand that food not only provides energy but also keeps our cells healthy. Without a balanced diet we risk various illnesses, like infections, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. At the same time, some foods can have the opposite effect, helping us heal.

How can Food Affect our Health?

Imagine this: two identical twins, who share the same DNA, grew up in different places and had different diets, habits, and hobbies. They ended up looking different from each other, and even developing different diseases. This can also happen with honeybees, who change their appearance and function in the hive depending on their environment and diet during their early lives. Why does this happen? And how?

This phenomenon can be explained by both genetics and epigenetics. Genetics is the study of the instruction manuals (genes) that tell our bodies how to grow and work. This set of instructions does not change—each person’s genes remain the same throughout their life. Epigenetics, on the other hand, describes how our environments and habits can turn genes on or off, which can affect how traits and functions develop, just like with the twins and honeybees (read more about epigenetics here).

A curious scientist named Conrad Waddington wondered how traits could be influenced by more than just genes. In 1942, he came up with the term “epigenetics” even before scientists fully understood DNA. Waddington’s work shows that being curious and exploring can lead to amazing discoveries, even if we do not know everything yet.

One way to think about epigenetics is through music. Think of the human genome as a musical score, in which each note and symbol represents instructions to create and conduct a unique biological symphony. Now, instead of thinking of epigenetics as changes in the score itself, think of it as the interpretation of that score by different musicians at different times and places. Why does the same song sound different when it is played by different people? Well, musicians are like epigenetic markers, little notes and accents that add nuances and emotions to music. In our bodies, some genes can be turned on or off by attaching or removing chemical groups such as methyl groups (molecules made of one carbon and three hydrogen atoms, CH₃) from histones or specific regions of DNA (Figure 2). This alters how the score is interpreted or, in other words, the way we look or the kinds of diseases that we have.

Some plant-based foods have special compounds that can change how our genes work. Green tea, for example, has substances called catechins, and soybeans and fava beans have genistein. These compounds can tell enzymes in our bodies what to do with our DNA. Other examples are resveratrol, found in red and blue foods like grapes; butyrate and sulforaphane from broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables; and curcumin, which is in turmeric. Such substances interact with enzymes that are involved in the way our genes are “packaged” or folded up in the DNA. Eating these foods can make our genes work differently, showing how important foods are for healthy, functional bodies.

Eating certain foods a lot or not at all can change our epigenome, and these changes can be passed from generation to generation. For example, scientists gave some mice a low-protein diet, and guess what? Their babies ended up having trouble regulating cholesterol [1]. And it is not just mice—similar things have been seen in people who experienced malnutrition, and their babies developed diseases like diabetes. So, what we eat today could shape the health of our great-great-grandkids! It is like our food choices are leaving a legacy, echoing through time.

However, if we start adopting healthier habits such as exercising regularly and eating more fruits and vegetables, we might be able to prevent these epigenetic changes and reduce the risk of getting some diseases. By making positive lifestyle choices, we can help shape a healthier future for ourselves and for generations to come.

Food Informatics: The Present and Future of Food

After learning all this, you might be wondering what foods you should eat and how you should combine them to improve your health. Or maybe you are thinking about using food to treat illnesses. Guess what? Computers and a field called food informatics are helping us figure all this out! Food informatics helps us analyze food data more efficiently and discover how different foods and their components can affect human health [2]. So, the answers to these questions might be closer than we think, all thanks to the power of technology and science!

Currently, food informatics is doing some really cool things (Figure 3)! Scientists are gathering and studying big batches of information about foods, genes, and how they affect our bodies. They are also discovering the mysterious connections between our senses of taste and smell and the ingredients in our meals. Have you heard about robotic noses? They are like super sniffers that can tell if our food is fresh and yummy [3]. Additionally, food informatics is important for figuring out what makes our food taste good, look nice, and stay fresh longer. In the realm of medicine, scientists are on the hunt for new molecules present in foods that not only provide nourishment but also offer health benefits and may even be used as medicines in the future.

As scientists continue to explore food informatics and epigenetics, they are finding a lot of excitement and a few tricky issues. One cool thing is that they might be able to make better guesses about what is making people sick and come up with treatments and diets that fit each person perfectly. However, there are tough things that they need to figure out. A lot of information is needed to do a really good job studying food and how it affects our bodies. So, scientists need to find ways to gather and handle all that data properly.

Conclusion

As you have seen, food is really important in our societies for many reasons. And as computers are becoming better and more powerful, the information scientists are learning about food and health is creating new and interesting applications in many fields. Soon, we might hear a lot more about food epigenetics on television, in supermarkets, or even in magazines due to the numerous products claiming specific health benefits based on their impact on our genes and overall health.

Glossary

DNA: ↑ A molecule that functions as a bookshelf holding all the instruction manuals (genes) that make you you.

Genetics: ↑ The study of the instruction manuals (genes) that tell our bodies how to grow and work.

Epigenetics: ↑ The study of how our genes change because of our behaviors and the environments we are exposed to.

Epigenetic Markers: ↑ Special chemical tags that stick to your DNA and help decide how your genes work. They can turn genes on or off.

Histones: ↑ Proteins that DNA wraps around, helping to organize it inside the cell. By tightening or loosening this wrap, histones can control which genes are active or silent.

Enzyme: ↑ Special proteins that speed up chemical reactions inside your body.

Epigenome: ↑ A collection of chemical tags that sit on DNA, telling genes when to turn on or off without changing the DNA itself. These tags help control how cells grow, develop, and respond to the environment.

Food Informatics: ↑ The study of food using computers.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

FS extends its deepest gratitude to the Move Up Lab collective, especially to teacher Ana Gabriela Tovar Robles, for her invaluable editorial help in polishing this article. Her experience and knowledge greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Special thanks are also due to Hassan Villegas Quintero, BSc, for his guidance, encouragement, and introduction to the fascinating world of epigenetics. FS acknowledges the Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencia y Tecnología (CONAHCyT), Mexico, for providing doctoral scholarship 848061.