Book excerpt: Natural products and functional/medical foods are now widely acknowledged as having an effect on the microbiome of the intestine, which in turn influences the outcome of certain disease. This book reviews the impact and effects of natural products and functional/medical foods (nutritional programming) on disease management, specifically focusing on diseases related to 1) Inflammation and Immunity, 2) Cancer, COPD and Cachexia, 3) Allergy and 4) Brain Neuro/Immune. Hippocrates said "let medicine be thy food and food be thy medicine". While most of us are familiar with Hippocrates famous words, we admit that in recent times, the disciplines of pharma and nutrition have evolved separately. Today, with the ever growing burden of diseases in modern society, we see a convergence of the two in relation to specific disease prevention and treatment. This re-discovered common ground between the complementary values of pharma and nutrition can be conceptualized in the term pharma-nutrition. Various chapters in the book review the aspects of molecular characteristics of food ingredients towards clinical effectiveness and relevance.