title: From a Reductionist to a Holistic Approach in Preventive Nutrition to Define New and More Ethical Paradigms.
abstract: This concept paper intends to define four new paradigms for improving nutrition research. First, the consequences of applying a reductionist versus a holistic approach to nutrition science will be discussed. The need for a more focused preventive nutrition approach, as opposed to a curative one, will then be presented on the basis of the 'healthy core metabolism' concept. This will lead us to propose a new classification of food products based on processing for future epidemiological studies. As a result of applying the holistic approach, health food potential will be redefined based on both food structure and nutrient density. These new paradigms should help define a more ethical preventive nutrition for humans to improve public recommendations while preserving the environment.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Human Nutrition, Joint Research Unit 1019, Human Nutrition Research Center of Auvergne, French National Institute for Agricultural Research &#38; Clermont University, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. anthony.fardet@clermont.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fardet
authors.affiliation: Unit of Human Nutrition, Joint Research Unit 1019, Human Nutrition Research Center of Auvergne, French National Institute for Agricultural Research &#38; Clermont University, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. edmond.rock@clermont.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Edmond
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rock
keywords: food ranking; food structure; healthy core metabolism; healthy life years; holism; intervention studies; preventive nutrition; reductionism; sustainability