Various Perspectives
Robert Rountree, MD, gave a lecture that inspired the audience to have a greater appreciation of the nonlinear and complex nature of foods and their effects at a cellular level. Specifically, he spoke about a burgeoning appreciation for the role of “hormesis” at a cellular level. Hormesis is the concept that a substance that is toxic at high amounts may have beneficial effects at low doses. Tying the entirety of this concept together with diet, Rountree gave examples of phytochemicals that act as hormetic agents and reviewed the concept of oxidation within cells as an adaptive stress response that is based in a hormetic response to various oxidative pressures in cells. This progressive view of the molecular effects of a whole foods diet was well received.