Biological Diversity, Dietary Diversity, and Eye Health in Developing Country Populations: Establishing the Evidence-base

Abstract

Human and ecosystem health converge around biological diversity issues. Cultivated and wild plants as food and medicine make essential contributions to human health, which in turn provides rationales for conservation. While wild and cultivated plant diversity reasonably facilitates dietary diversity and positive health outcomes, the challenges of demonstrating this relationship limit its impact in concept, policy, and practice. We present a rationale for testing the dietary contribution of biological diversity to improved eye health as a case study based on existing phytochemical, pharmacological, and clinical knowledge. We consider the empirical evidence needed to substantiate, interpret, and apply this relationship at a population and ecosystem level within a unified research framework. Epidemiological data strongly support the prevention of childhood vitamin A deficiency blindness, cataract, and age-related macular degeneration by fruit and vegetable consumption. Phytonutrients, including the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, protect the eye from oxidative stress and harmful light exposure. Laboratory, community, and population level research should prioritize food composition of dietary plants from both agriculture and the wild. Intervention studies, focus groups, and transmission of knowledge of local species and varieties within communities will further interpretation of epidemiological data. Population-based studies combining clinical data and measures of access and consumption of biological diversity are key to demonstrating the important relationships among biodiversity, dietary diversity, and health outcomes.

Food sovereignty: an alternative paradigm for poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation in Latin America

“…Although many traditional systems in Latin America have proved their durability in the long term 19 , researchers face serious methodological challenges inherent in measuring the relationship between biodiversity and food security within a common framework 222– 224 . In emphasizing the collective right of food producers and consumers to decide the characteristics of their food system at local, regional and national levels, food sovereignty contains a crucial ambiguity—that is, the question of how to resolve possible contradictions within these different geographies, from the nation-state to the individual 225 .…”

Culture and food security

“…In addition, several traditional production practices have been documented to result in high agrobiological diversity (Altieri, 2004;Clawson, 1985), which can facilitate dietary diversity (Bélanger and Johns, 2008;Penafiel et al, 2011). It is important to note, however, that traditional food production systems need sufficient food safety checks to monitor the risk of exposure to toxins, either organic (Benkerroum, 2013;Wild and Gong, 2010) or inorganic (Isildak et al, 2004;Larsen, 2006;Muhammad et al, 2011).…”

The Contribution of Forests and Trees to Sustainable Diets

“…Even though the nature of the evidence is still circumstantial, many authors find that there is a reasonable and compelling case to argue that access to and use of biological diversity from both forests and farm land leads to a more varied diet [4,41,42], which in turn improves health outcomes [43,44]. A study by Powell et al [18] in the East Usambara Mountains (Tanzania), showed that 48% of the food species consumed could be obtained in forest ecosystems (Figure 2), and children who had used forest foods had diets with higher diversity and nutrient density, and consumed a larger number of animal source food items.…”