Although it has long been recognized that what we eat and how we deal with stress play a major role in disease prevention and treatment, it is only recently that the scientific basis of this relationship has been aggressively studied. In Nutrients, Stress, and Medical Disorders, prominent researchers from academia, industry, and medicine survey current clinical findings on the complex interactions between diet, mental health, and stress, and their impact on disease states. The authors consider specific nutrients (fatty acids, glucocorticoids, herbal products, and alcohol), the effects of food, and stress, taking into account even environmental influences other than diet and their effects on stress and central nervous system functions. They give special attention to the influence of stress on physical health, mental health, and cognitive function, including the critical effects of maternal nutritional status and stress levels on fetal physical and mental development, the role of lipids in the development and treatment of depression, the role of fish oil in the development of aggressive behaviors, and the consequences of obesity on stress and the development of eating disorders. Additional chapters examine the effects of stress on chronic disorders, women, and cardiac function, and the influence of inflammation on diet, neurological functions, disease incidence, and cognitive functions.Authoritative and up-to-date, Nutrients, Stress, and Medical Disorders offers health professionals in many areas of research and practice not only an easy-to-understand benchmark review of the importance of nutrition in reducing stress-related chronic diseases and optimizing health, but also insight into exciting possibilities for drug development, the design of therapeutic programs, and future research opportunities.

A benchmark survey of current clinical findings on the complex interactions between diet, stress, and mental health, and their impact on disease states. The authors give special attention to the influence of stress on physical health, mental health, and cognitive function, including the critical effects of maternal nutritional status and stress levels on fetal physical and mental development, the role of lipids in the development and treatment of depression, the role of fish oil in the development of aggressive behaviors, and the consequences of obesity on stress and the development of eating disorders.

History, Methodology, and Basic Science.- Stress Revisited.- Experimental Protocols for the Study of Stress in Animals and Humans.- Neurobiological Foundations of Stress.- The Beneficial Effects of Fruit and Vegetable Supplementation on Neuronal Signaling and Behavior in Aging.- Effects of Stress and Nutrition on Blood-Brain Barrier Functions.- Nutrients and Stress.- Essential Fatty Acids and Stress.- Stress, Glucocorticoids, and the Brain.- Herbal Products, Stress, and the Mind.- Stress and Food Craving.- Stress, Alcohol Consumption, and the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis.- Influences on Diet and Stress Across Space and Time.- Health, Mental Health, and Cognitive Functions.- Nutrition and Stress and the Developing Fetus.- Lipids and Depression.- Nicotine, Sleep, and Depression.- Aggression, Fish Oil, and Noradrenergic Activity.- Stress in the Pathogenesis of Eating Disorders and Obesity.- Chronic Disorders and Inflammation.- Effect of Dietary Hypercholesteremia on Host Immune Response.- Treatment of Huntington's Disease With Eicosapentaenoic Acid.- Major Stressors in Women's Health.- Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Metabolic Syndrome X.- Dietary Management of Stress Using Amino Acid Supplements.- Conditioned Nutritional Requirements of the Failing Heart.- Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Neuro-Inflammation.- Pathophysiological Effects of Inflammatory Mediators and Stress on Distinct Memory Systems.- The Interaction Between Nutrition and Inflammatory Stress Throughout the Life Cycle.