The concept of nutrition wasn’t just an idea that popped up out of thin air. Nutrition is a concept that developed itself over many, many years. Sometimes it’s nice to take a quick history lesson to learn where and how nutrition originated and who played a part in bringing it to the forefront. Without nutrition, things in our society would undoubtedly be very different.

By definition, the word “nutrition” means the process of nourishing or being nourished, specifically the process by which a living organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and replacement of tissues. Since the beginning of time, ancient civilizations were quick to note when something they ate benefited them greatly, whether it was mind, body, spirit or a combination of the three. Back in 400 BC, Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” encouraged his students to, “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” During this same time period, food items were often used in everyday life, from medicines and treatment of illnesses and wounds to cosmetics. An ancient remedy used involved squeezing the juice of liver onto the eye to treat eye disease. In today’s terms, this approach deals with vitamin A deficiency. Liver contains a large amount of vitamin A - so the folks back in 400 BC knew what they were talking about!

Fast forward to 1747, where physician Dr. James Lind, performed an experiment to find the cure for illnesses suffered by sailors on long trips. He gave some sailors sea water, others vinegar, and another group limes. Unknown to Lind at the time, the sailors who consumed limes were free of illnesses, since the limes contained vitamin C, which cured the condition now known as scurvy. A few years later in 1770, Antoine Lavoisier came across the actual process that describes how food is metabolized. In his writings and studies, he discovered how the body uses the combination of food and oxygen. His findings were considered breakthroughs and he has been known as the “Father of Nutrition and Chemistry” ever since.

The term “vitamins” came into being in 1912, and was coined by Dr. Casmir Funk. Through his findings, Funk found that vitamins were responsible for preventing all sorts of diseases that commonly plagued the people of those times. The word “vitamin” comes from the words vital and amine. In 1930, William Rose discovered essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. The progression of nutrition continued to unfold over the next few decades and without these key discoveries, things in the nutritional world may have been very different or may not have existed at all.

To protect the general public, the Dietary and Supplement Health and Education Act was approved by Congress in 1994, which states what can and cannot be listed about nutritional supplements without the approval of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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