The Singh’s Concept of Functional Foods and Functional Farming (4 F) for World Health

Abstract Economic development is associated with increased consumption of saturated fat, refined starchy foods with excess of salt and sugar, manufactured by the food industry, in conjunction with physical inactivity that are responsible for obesity and related noncommunicable (NCDs). However, functional foods characterized with traditional whole grains; wheat, grams, beans with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, olive oil, mustard oil/canola oil have been found to be protective against NCDs. Obesity is one of the biggest risk factors of NCDs; cardiovascular diseases; hypertension, coronary artery disease, strokes, heart failure, and other types of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, bone and joint diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. There is a prospect to develop an international unanimity on how to forestall undernutrition, via increased food availability, through Functional Foods and Functional Farming (4 F), so that there is no rise in human vulnerability to obesity and NCDs. Previous attempts with food security via energy-rich products such as manufactured foods as well as food produced via farming (more energy, less nutrients) have resulted into increased burden of obesity. It has been demonstrated that an Indo-Mediterranean dietary pattern characterized with functional foods; whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and fish in conjunction with olive oil plus mustard or canola oil can help the prevention of various diseases. Further attempts must be made to provide nutrient rich feedstock to animals and birds and soil for growth of foods to develop new functional foods, such as Sim’s egg, to increase food availability.