In the past 100 years, the average lifespan in the United States alone has increased by nearly thirty years. However, the years gained are being plagued by non-infectious, killer chronic diseases in epidemic proportions that are increasingly contributing to poor health and premature death in later years. Americans may be squandering the longevity they gained in the twentieth century by succumbing in the twenty-first century to these preventable, killer chronic diseases, largely attributable to dietary and lifestyle choices.The prevalence of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes, cancer, and obesity along with the steadily rising human and economic costs surrounding them have spurred research into the causes and risk factors of these diseases for several decades.