Functional Food in Traditional Persian Medicine.

Background: During the last decades, there have been great advancements in the field of preventive medicine. Research has demonstrated that nutrition plays a crucial role in the prevention of chronic diseases. The concept of functional food was first introduced in Japan during the 1980s. It proposes to consider food not only vital to survive, but also a mean for mental and physical well-being, contributing to the prevention and reduction of risk factors for diseases. However, there is evidence that the concept was believed by ancient physicians as well. One of the traditional systems of medicines is traditional Persian medicine (TPM). Rhazes said; “as long as a disease could be treated with food, medicine should be avoided”