Nutraceutical is a combination of the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical”. The term nutraceutical was coined in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, a physician and founder of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, Cranford, New Jersey, US. It is described as food or part of a food that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and/or treatment of disease. Nutraceuticals now include a wide range of products, such as echinacea, St John’s wort, oils from fish and flax seed, glucosamine and chondroitin, calcium-fortified juices and plant-sterol containing butter substitutes. Such products may range from isolated nutrients, dietary supplements and specific diets to genetically engineered designer foods, herbal products, and processed foods such as cereals, soups and beverages. It is important to note that this definition applies to all categories of food and parts of food, ranging from dietary supplements such as folic acid, used for the prevention of spina bifida, to chicken soup, taken to lessen the discomfort of the common cold. This definition also includes a bio-engineered designer vegetable food, rich in antioxidant ingredients, and a stimulant functional food or pharmafood. Since the term was coined, its meaning has been modified. Ayurvedic practitioner, Pallavi says, “Nutraceuticals have good impact on our health. Recently it was claimed by an individual, who was suffering from diabetes to have overcome it and became a non-diabetic after taking nutraceuticals. The effect of imbalanced lifestyles, originating out of stressful schedules, changing eating habits, more consumption of junk food, encourages lifestyle diseases. It is usually said that if the diet is not good, the health will definitely not be good. Since many of us do not eat healthy, we need additional food supplements, called health additives. Nutraceuticals play an important role as a food supplement that helps to stop body malfunction and detoxes it of toxic elements. The pioneering and innovative Muhammed Majeed, Founder and Managing Director, Sami Group which manufactures nutraceuticals says, “Nutraceuticals have an important role to play and target people who consider their health very important, and wish to take a natural route for disease prevention. The market for the nutraceuticals is gradually increasing due to public awareness. Nutraceuticals are here to stay and will grow faster as seen by increasing number of big and small players and even multinationals entering this segment.” Sheela Krishnaswamy, diet, nutrition and wellness consultant, points out that a healthy person who takes a well-balanced diet, packed with nutrients, nutraceuticals have little role to play in boosting health. A person, who is unable to eat adequately or whose nutritional status is sub-optimum, nutraceuticals helps in providing the required nutrients if given in the right quantity. Nutraceuticals are useful for hospitalised patients, convalescing persons and others who are malnourished. In the disease prevention space, one must be careful in choosing nutraceuticals. Some products may claim to prevent diseases or delay aging or improve memory or reduce weight or increase energy levels, and such claims might be a mere marketing strategy. The consumer must remember that no single product or single supplement or a single nutraceutical or even a single food item can work miraculously by itself as a cure for all health problems. “A few nutraceuticals, I recommend are Pentasure HP / Kabipro / Resource HP for patients who require a high intake of protein; Spirulina capsules for those who need B vitamins and Yakult probiotic drink for gastrointestinal health,” says Sheela Holistic healer Issac Mathai, MD, also cautions against thinking that nutraceuticals are a panacea for all ills. “Green tea is a good anti oxidant, but I cannot go so far as to say that it can cure cancers,” he says. It has been found that trace elements like selenium and chromium, help in dealing with diabetes, and taking them in the form of nutraceutical tablets is a good idea as they are found in traces in food sources. “I would reccommend protein drinks only to those who have undergone sudden weight loss due to illness and maybe those recovering from cancer. Vitamin D deficiency has become very common these days and fortified foods and supplements do help but always get blood checked to prevent excess of vitamin. Since nutraceuticals are often cheaper than regular pharmaceutical brands, they are becoming more and more popular and most don’t even require a prescription,” says Mathai.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 07:11:56 +0000