, ▁and ▁S umer ians ▁are ▁just ▁a ▁few ▁civil izations ▁that ▁have ▁used ▁food ▁as ▁medicine . ▁“ Let ▁food ▁be ▁thy ▁medicine .” ▁is ▁a ▁common ▁mis quot ation ▁ ▁attributed ▁to ▁Hi pp ocr ates , ▁who ▁is ▁considered ▁by ▁some ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁father ▁of ▁Western ▁medicine . ▁ ▁The ▁modern ▁nut race ut ical ▁market ▁began ▁to ▁develop ▁in ▁Japan ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s . ▁In ▁contrast ▁to ▁the ▁natural ▁her bs ▁and ▁sp ices ▁used ▁as ▁folk ▁medicine ▁for ▁centuries ▁throughout ▁Asia , ▁the ▁nut race ut ical ▁industry ▁has ▁grown ▁alongside ▁the ▁expansion ▁and ▁expl oration ▁of ▁modern ▁technology . ▁ ▁Crit ic ism ▁Because ▁nut race ut ical s ▁and ▁bio ce ut ical s ▁are ▁largely ▁un reg ulated , ▁these ▁supp lement s ▁are ▁the ▁subject ▁of ▁more ▁of ▁market ing ▁h ype ▁than ▁actual ▁clin ical ▁testing , ▁and ▁for ▁many , ▁it ▁is ▁not ▁even ▁yet ▁known ▁whether ▁they ▁provide ▁more ▁benefits ▁than ▁ris ks ▁for ▁consum ers . ▁For ▁many ▁of ▁these ▁products , ▁the ▁most ▁comp elling ▁evidence ▁for ▁effic acy ▁remains ▁an ec dot al ▁or , ▁at ▁best , ▁based ▁on ▁hints ▁of ▁benefit ▁from ▁small ▁or ▁poor ly ▁controlled ▁studies . ▁And ▁when ▁their ▁claims ▁do ▁not ▁match ▁the ▁evidence , ▁there ▁can ▁be ▁legal ▁consequences . ▁After ▁scient ists ▁disput ed ▁the ▁benefits ▁of ▁nut race ut ical s ▁like ▁prob iot ics ▁in ▁D annon ▁y og urt , ▁the