Book on Huntington’s Disease wins global award

Muscat: A book that was jointly edited by a professor at Sultan Qaboos University and describes types of food that help patients who suffer from Huntington’s Disease has won an award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
The book, titled ‘Food for Huntington’s Disease’ was edited by Dr Mohamed Essa, Associate Professor in Human Nutrition from the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences. It won the best book award in the category of health and nutrition books published by institutions.
There were five books shortlisted and nominated for this award. One of these publications was released by the World Health Organisation, while the others came from Taiwan, Malaysia and Germany, along with Dr Essa’s book. The book was co-edited by Dr. T. Manivasagam and Dr. A. Justin Thenmozhi from Annamalai University, India and Dr. Qazi Anwar Hamid from Rx Biosciences Inc, in the USA.
This book mainly focuses on the benefits of multiple foods including fruits, vegetables and spices and their active ingredients and examines the molecular mechanisms behind the effects of natural products on Huntington’s Disease.
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau. It is a free competition and open to publishers who release copies in all languages. In addition, publishers from any country are welcome to enter . The Gourmand Awards celebrate global cookbook publications and feature many world-renowned chefs each year. It is sometimes described as the ‘Oscars of the food awards’ with the main aim of the event being to honour the authors and to increase knowledge and respect for food culture, which promotes peace.
This is one more book in a series related to the effects of food and nutrition on brain health. It designates the possible beneficial effects of edible natural products and their active materials on Huntington’s Disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that could cause uncontrolled movements, cognitive difficulties and emotional disturbances. The aim of this book and its series is to create awareness in general audiences about the application of diet in reducing the occurrence of Huntington’s Disease.
This book is one of the outcomes of an internal grant provided to Dr Essa from SQU. Furthermore, it reinforces the robust international collaboration between Dr Essa, SQU and his partners from the USA and India.