Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods

Nutraceuticals and Their Role in Human Health

• Nutraceuticals range from isolated nutrients, herbal products, dietary supplements, and diets to genetically engineered designer foods and processed products.
• Functional foods are classified into three categories: whole food/basic foods, fortified foods, and enhanced foods.
• Fortified foods are natural foods fortified with other nutrients, whereas enhanced foods are foods that have more of a functional component through traditional breeding and genetic engineering.

Benefits of Nutraceuticals

• Reduce the risk of cancer
• Treat respiratory allergies
• Prevent diarrhea and dysentery disorders
• Decrease cholesterol level

Nutraceuticals and Diseases

• Nutraceuticals cover most of the therapeutic areas, including: • Antiarthritic • Cold and cough • Sleeping disorders • Digestion • Prevention of certain cancers • Osteoporosis • Blood pressure • Cholesterol control • Pain killers • Depression • Diabetes • Cardiovascular disease • Degenerative diseases

Classification of Nutraceuticals

• Broadly, nutraceuticals can be classified into two groups: potential nutraceuticals and established nutraceuticals.
• On the basis of chemical nature, nutraceuticals can be grouped into: • Carbohydrates and their derivatives • Fatty acids and lipid structures • Microorganisms • Proteins and amino acid structures • Phenolic compounds • Isoprenoid derivatives • Minerals

Food Sources Used as Nutraceuticals

• Dietary fiber
• Probiotics and prebiotics
• Polyunsaturated fatty acids
• Antioxidant vitamins
• Polyphenols
• Spices
• Minerals

Dietary Fiber

• Defined as the plant part that is not hydrolyzed by enzymes secreted by the human digestive tract, but digested by microflora in the gut.
• Divided into two forms: insoluble dietary fiber (celluloses, some hemicelluloses, and lignins) and soluble dietary fiber (β-glucans, pectins, gums, mucilages).
• A good intake of dietary fiber lowers the risk of several diseases, including: • Coronary heart disease • Stroke • Hypertension • Diabetes • Obesity • Certain gastrointestinal disorders
• Dietary fiber’s ability to decrease body weight is contributed to several factors, including: • Soluble fiber creating a feeling of satiety • Decreasing energy absorption by diluting a diet’s energy availability • Decreasing a diet’s metabolizable energy

Antioxidant Vitamins

• Principal micronutrient antioxidants of the body, including: • Vitamin E (α-tocopherol) • Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) • β-carotene
• These micronutrients scavenge free radicals and cannot be manufactured by the body, so they should be supplied in the diet.