Can food really take the place of medicine? While modern medicine certainly has its place and does more than its fair share of good, there is no denying that many of society's most perilous chronic diseases are exacerbated by poor diets. Whereas infectious diseases used to cause the most number of deaths, the impact of chronic diseases now far overshadows that of infectious diseases. Diet plays a significant role in the development of a number of types of chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. This title explores the impact of dietary choices on the prevention, management, and treatment of a number of medical conditions and disease states including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic stress, critical illness, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. Conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, musculoskeletal disorders, rheumatic disease, anemia, hepatobiliary, gallbladder, pancreatic, and kidney diseases are covered in the subsequent title Diet and Disease II.