This second expanded edition has been brought fully up-to-date to include all the new thinking and discoveries that have the greatest capacity to improve human health and nutritional advancement. The authors provide practical, data-driven integrated chapters covering the most important aspects of the complex interactions between diet, its nutrient components, and their impacts on disease states, and on those health conditions that increase the risk of chronic disease. Though obesity, weight control, diabetes, and other chronic diseases associated with obesity are emphasized, the major chronic diseases are all thoroughly reviewed, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, as well as age-related diseases. There is also a wealth of updated material on novel substances such as long-chain fatty acids, flavonoids, carotenoids, herbs, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, amino acids, and other dietary components, and on almost 100 websites to help readers identify excellent sources of information.