Nutraceuticals – Food Medicines of 21st Century

Nutraceuticals are healthy combination of nutrition and pharmaceuticals. These products are foods or fortified foods which not only supplements the diet but also help in the treatment or prevention of diseases. Nutraceuticals are not regulated, examined and tested to a level of pharmaceutical drugs. According to study done on nutraceuticals market, it is a pharmaceutical-grade and standardized nutrient, and is regulated by FDA under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Nutraceuticals are usually sectioned into three primary groups – functional foods, functional beverages, and dietary supplements. Of these, functional foods are sub categorized into probiotic foods, omega fatty acids, etc., and functional beverages are further characterized into sports drinks, energy drinks, and fortified juices. Dietary supplements are sub divided into mineral and vitamin supplement, protein supplements such as lifestyle products and protein powder, and herbal supplements such as plant extracts and ayurvedic extracts. Nutraceuticals are products purified or insulated from foods that are usually sold in medicinal forms and has been established to consist of physiological benefit and/or render shield against chronic disease. In India, nutraceuticals are widely used like Shatavari Grihta (for physiological state of women), Arjuna Sheerapka (for heart protection), and Brahma Rasayana (for alleviating mental stress). The enhanced and modern nutraceutical industry started to expand in Japan in the 1980s. The functional component of the food should be standardized in the nutraceutical product and developed under good manufacturing practices (GMPs).

Nutraceuticals examples:

·         Mineral

·         Vitamins

·         Essential fatty acids (Omega – 3)

·         Coenzyme Q

·         Herbs

·         Multi-mineral formulas

·         Amino acids

·         Probiotics

Advanced technology has led to a state where we can separate nutrients which are crucial to health and generate nutraceutical supplements from them in liquid, capsule, powder, gelcap, softgel, or tablets. Therefore, rather than eating plenty of fish to get the precise amount of fatty acids in the everyday diet, one can consume omega – 3 fish oil gelcaps instead. Similar to the fish one eats, one can also choose the quality of fish oil. The most superior quality of fish oil supplements are pharmaceutical grade, these undergo extreme inspection for purity, contamination and quality. Also, pharmaceutical grade nutraceuticals require prescription from the healthcare expert.

Nutraceuticals are further characterized into:

·         Food grade

·         Pharmaceutical grade

·         Feed grade

The primary dissimilarity amongst these three is purity and quality. Pharmaceutical-grade supplements should be more than 99 percent pure and should not consist of fillers, binders, dyes, excipienst, or unknown products, which most of the feed-grade and food-grade do.

Regulatory measures of Nutraceuticals:

United States – the phrase ‘nutraceutical’ is not determined by the US law. Based on the ingredients and the assertions with the help of which they are marketed, a product is modulated as a dietary supplement, drug, food or food ingredient.

Canada – this country’s law says that a nutraceutical can either be promoted as a drug or food.

International sources – globally, there are substantial product quality problems. Nutraceuticals from the foreign market might allege to make use of exotic or organic ingredients; however the lack of stringent regulations might compromise the efficiency and safety of the products.

Disclaimer: The information given in this write-up is purely for educating the reader. It is not meant to be a substitute for any advice from a medical expert.

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