From the Editors
We are honored to have been asked to edit the tenth edition of Present Knowledge of Nutrition. The first edition was published in 1953 and throughout the book’s history its authors have been a “Who’s Who” of nutritional science. The current volume is no exception. With this edition, we aimed to find productive, knowledgeable, and well-known authors to help us provide integrated information on nutrition, physiology, health and disease, and public health applications – all in one text. This ambitious goal was set for one purpose: to provide readers with the most comprehensive and current information covering the broad fields within the nutrition discipline. Reflecting the global relevance of nutrition, our authors come from a number of countries. It is hoped that this edition captures the current state of this vital and dynamic science from an international perspective.
New to this edition are chapters on topics such as epigenetics, metabolomics, and sports nutrition – areas that have developed significantly in recent years. The remaining chapters have all been thoroughly updated to reflect developments since the last edition. Suggested reading lists are now provided for readers wishing to delve further into specific subject areas. To make this edition as accessible and continuously relevant as possible, it is available in both print and electronic formats. An accompanying Web site provides book owners with access to an Image Bank of tables and figures as well as any updates the authors may post to their chapters in the future. We hope this volume will be a valuable reference for researchers, health professionals, and policy experts as well as a useful resource for educators and advanced nutrition students.
John W. Erdman Jr., Urbana, Illinois
Ian A. Macdonald, Nottingham, England
Steven H. Zeisel, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Acknowledgments
A great deal of work and dedication was involved in producing this extensive volume. First and foremost, we thank the authors of the 73 chapters who reviewed and condensed a vast amount of knowledge and literature. Their undertaking was significant and our gratitude for their dedication cannot be overstated. The editors of the ninth edition, Barbara Bowman and Rob Russell, are thanked for the critical help they provided in the conceptualization of this edition as well as the author selection. All of the chapters in this edition were externally reviewed by leaders in each chapter’s field; their generous, voluntary assistance was invaluable. We thank the International Life Sciences Institute for continuing to foster the production of Present Knowledge in Nutrition, and we especially thank Allison Worden for her guidance, hundreds of hours of work, and for keeping everything on track.
About the Editors
John W. Erdman, Jr.
John W. Erdman Jr., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, United States. Dr. Erdman has over 35 years of research and teaching experience focused upon nutritional biochemistry. His research has included studies of the effects of food processing on the bioavailability of minerals and vitamins, human clinical trials involving lipid metabolism and weight loss and animal trials on diet components and reduction of prostate cancer.
Ian A Macdonald
Ian A. Macdonald, Professor of Metabolic Physiology, University of Nottingham Medical School, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom. Dr. Macdonald has over 30 years experience of teaching nutrition to medical, pharmacy and dietetics students and is an internationally recognized expert in human energy and macronutrient metabolism research. Specific research interests relate to nutrition and metabolism in obesity, exercise and ageing, with additional interests in the physiological effects of nutrients such as flavonoids on the human cardiovascular system.
Steven H. Zeisel
Steven H. Zeisel, M.D. Ph.D. Professor of Nutrition and Pediatrics, Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States. Dr. Zeisel is an internationally recognized expert in clinical nutrition, choline metabolism, and nutrigenomics. Dr. Zeisel heads a research institute that studies sources of metabolic variation. Also, he leads a team that developed a web-based course in human nutrition that is used by more than 100 medical schools around the world.