Diet and nutrition research

The interest in nutrition and cancer, which was high in the 1940s and 1950s, was rekindled in the 1970s and is now more intense than ever. There has been considerable experimental work on dietary fat, but delineation of the precise role(s) of the essential fatty acids is still lacking. There have been few studies on protein or carbohydrate effects and only Visek has adequately addressed the important area of nutrient interactions. More work is needed in the fiber field with regard to the influences of short chain fatty acids, and the standardization of protocols is needed to make the various findings comparable. Currently, fiber data have been accrued using rats of different strains and gender, commercial and semipurified diets, a variety of colon carcinogens, and different routes of administration. The effects of energy restriction (in the literature since 1909) have not been widely studied as to mechanism and influence of energy expenditure (i.e., exercise) and merit more attention.