| Popis: |
Endocrine disrupting chemicals, which are exposed to increasingly in modern life conditions, can affect the health across the lifespan, from the intrauterine period to elderly. Research associates the exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals with metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, thyroid diseases, several types of cancer, neurological diseases, reproductive health disorders and childhood developmental problems. Diet has been recognized as one of the main sources that mediates the exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. In fact, diet can control endocrine disruptor exposure in three stages. First, the modification in the content of diet and alterations of some behaviors related to nutrition can reduce the total amount of endocrine disrupting chemicals taken into the body. Second, the accumulation of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the body can be partially prevented by the minor dietary modifications. Last, dietary bioactive food components can control the some major mechanisms that activated by the endocrine disrupting chemicals, taken into the body and accumulated in the organs, and thus can prevent the potential damage. At these three stages, five main dietary strategies can be followed for reducing the exposure and efficacy of endocrine disrupting chemicals. These include: raising awareness of dietary endocrine disrupting chemicals; the modification of diet; changing the preferences for food supply; adapting the practices for food preparation, cooking and storage; and maintaining ideal body weight. This chapter has defined the dietary exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, and discussed the five main dietary strategies for reducing the exposure to these chemicals. |
