Abstract
This article is the first in a series attempting to put into the clinical medical context an awareness of the nutritional, environmental, psychological, cultural, technical and industrial influences on health, and to put our perception of patients into the context of the evolutionary progress of Homo sapiens. It will highlight some of the theoretical, scientific and ethical aspects of current medical practice, with specific relevance to nutritional medicine and will focus on the importance of nutrient status in modulating adaptive responses.