Religious Beliefs Shaping Health Care and Transforming Health Concepts: The Case of Shanghai

Gu, Shengyu; Sokolovskiy, Konstantin; Evreeva, Olga; Ivleva, Svetlana

doi:10.1007/s10943-023-01864-x

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 53 publications

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“…In addition to physical, social, and mental health, spiritual health has been suggested as a necessary addition to the ‘WHO health triad’ [ 78 ]. The concept of spiritual health has a strong tradition in nursing fields and palliative care medicine, but has recently received greater focus in healthcare across the globe [ 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 ]. Spiritual health can be defined as ‘a state of being where an individual is able to deal with daily events and challenges in a manner that leads to the realization of one’s full potential, including meaning and purpose of life and fulfilment from within’ [ 78 , 84 ].…”

Section: Physical Social Mental and Spiritual Dimensions Of Human Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science and Faith to Understand Milk Bioactivity for Infants

Sangild

2024

Nutrients

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Milk bioactivity refers to the specific health effects of milk components beyond nutrition. The science of milk bioactivity involves the systematic study of these components and their health effects, as verified by empirical data, controlled experiments, and logical arguments. Conversely, ’faith in milk bioactivity’ can be defined as personal opinion, meaning, value, trust, and hope for health effects that are beyond investigation by natural, social, or human sciences. Faith can be strictly secular, but also influenced by spirituality or religion. The aim of this paper is to show that scientific knowledge is frequently supplemented with faith convictions to establish personal and public understanding of milk bioactivity. Mammalian milk is an immensely complex fluid containing myriad proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and micronutrients with multiple functions across species, genetics, ages, environments, and cultures. Human health includes not only physical health, but also social, mental, and spiritual health, requiring widely different fields of science to prove the relevance, safety, and efficacy of milk interventions. These complex relationships between milk feeding and health outcomes prevent firm conclusions based on science and logic alone. Current beliefs in and understanding of the value of breast milk, colostrum, infant formula, or isolated milk proteins (e.g., immunoglobulins, α-lactalbumin, lactoferrin, and growth factors) show that both science and faith contribute to understand, stimulate, or restrict the use of milk bioactivity. The benefits of breastfeeding for infants are beyond doubt, but the strong beliefs in its health effects rely not only on science, and mechanisms are unclear. Likewise, fear of, or trust in, infant formula may rely on both science and faith. Knowledge from science safeguards individuals and society against ‘milk bioactivity superstition’. Conversely, wisdom from faith-based convictions may protect science from unrealistic ‘milk bioactivity scientism’. Honesty and transparency about the potentials and limitations of both scientific knowledge and faith convictions are important when informing individuals and society about the nutritious and bioactive qualities of milk.

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Section: Physical Social Mental and Spiritual Dimensions Of Human Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science and Faith to Understand Milk Bioactivity for Infants

Sangild

2024

Nutrients

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Religious Beliefs Shaping Health Care and Transforming Health Concepts: The Case of Shanghai

Cited by 1 publication

References 53 publications

Science and Faith to Understand Milk Bioactivity for Infants

Science and Faith to Understand Milk Bioactivity for Infants

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