Nutraceuticals: what is it and what advantages does it bring?

Nutraceutics is a new term coined in 1989 by Stephen de Felice, founder and president of “The Foundation for Innovation in Medicine”, and derives from the merger of Nutrition e Pharmaceuticals.

It is, therefore, a discipline that studies the nutraceuticals, i.e. those nutritional principles contained in foods, which have beneficial effects on health.

Nutraceuticals ranges across various different sectors, such as biology, chemistry and medicine, and helps to understand how what we take in with our diet can influence our health.

What are Nutraceuticals?

Nutraceuticals are the active ingredients that make up a food, it is therefore what naturally constitutes it.

For the most part they are substances of vegetable origin, found for example in fruit or vegetables as probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins etc.

They can be taken in "naturally nutraceutical foods" or they can be synthesized to create food supplements.

To be defined as nutraceuticals nutraceuticals, they must contain certain active substances within them and in a quantity that is capable of bringing health benefits and in some cases preventing the onset of diseases.

Nutraceuticals are, in fact, regulated by the European Regulation 432/2012, which establishes all the rules on nutritional and health claims, such as the use of claims.

Functional foods and nutraceuticals

For functional foods means:

“those foods which, in addition to their basic nutritional values, contain substances that regulate certain vital functions capable of bringing physiological benefits to those who consume them”

Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Science.

Furthermore, to be defined as functional, a food must have certain requirements:

• It must be an easily available food and not synthesized or chemically processed;
• It must have a beneficial component that distinguishes it from other foods and which is scientifically proven.

An example of a functional food that we all have in the refrigerator? Yogurt, inside which we find probiotics, useful for balancing our intestinal flora.

As we have already said previously, nutraceuticals are the substances present within food that can improve our state of health and in some cases prevent the onset of pathologies.

To be defined as nutraceutical foods they must naturally contain nutrients in the minimum quantities required by the regulations.

Nutraceuticals can be taken naturally in some foods, for example, polyphenols in EVOO or vitamin C in oranges.

Or they can be added with concentrated nutraceutical extracts, as in the case of milk with added Vitamin D, for example.

Finally, they can be isolated and packaged in pre-measured forms, such as capsules or tablets, this allows for easy intake and correct dosage.

In conclusion, we can say that nutraceuticals are the active ingredients that make a food "functional".

Nutraceuticals: between nutrition and health

The correlation between food and health has been known since ancient times. Already at the time of the Egyptians or Sumerians, foods were used to cure diseases or prevent them.

Not only does Ayurveda, ancient traditional Indian medicine, involve the use of food for therapeutic purposes, but also the father of classical Western medicine, Hippocrates, argued that food could represent medicine.

In the modern era there has once again been a great focus on the theme of “eating well” through the study of foods and what makes them up.

There is an increasingly felt need for a healthy and varied diet, rich in nutritious foods that are able to make up for increasingly common nutritional deficiencies.

In fact, it would appear that conventional foods are increasingly poor in nutrients.

For this reason today there is a great interest in organic foods, functional foods, nutraceuticals and the so-called Superfoods, which could represent a valid help in integrating precious nutrients into our diet.

What advantages does the nutraceutical diet bring?

Taking nutraceuticals, through food or in the form of food supplements, helps to improve the health of the body and could help prevent the onset of certain pathologies.

They must be integrated into a balanced diet, accompanied by a healthy lifestyle and regular physical activity.

Nutraceuticals contribute to the normal functioning of the body, carrying out fundamental functions such as:

• Support the immune system;
• Help regulate gastro-intestinal functions;
• Prevent tiredness and fatigue even during physical activity;
• Reduce the risks of developing cardiovascular or degenerative diseases;
• Delay the aging process;
• Help improve some bodily functions.

In general, the model of a varied and balanced diet, rich in fruit and vegetables, continues to be the best to follow, as it contains all the nutraceuticals necessary to meet our nutritional needs.

But where it is necessary to compensate for nutritional deficiencies, it is important to be able to resort to superfoods or food supplements, which represent an alternative way to help support the natural functions of our body.