The market today is flooded with a variety of nutraceuticals and dietary supplements claiming to enhance or otherwise benefit our body with their consumption. But is this really true? Although all food products are beneficial in the sense that they all provide nutrients or other substances that provide energy, sustain growth and other vital processes, some new products claim to enhance these effects. Here is a closer look at the wide spread phenomenon of food that is branded as Functional Food.

What are Functional Foods?
“Functional foods” or foods and dietary components that may provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition. You can take greater control of your health through the food choices that you make, if you know that specific foods provide specific benefits. Functional attributes of traditional foods are being discovered, while new food products are being developed with functional components. Functional foods are generally considered to provide additional benefits such as reduced risk of disease and promotion of health. Functional foods generally look, taste, feel and smell the same as their regular counterparts.

How can you recognize a Functional Food?

Foods can be inherently functional in nature. Some foods that are inherently functional are green tea and salmon. Green tea contains anti-oxidants and salmon contains omega-3 fatty acids.

Functional Foods are created when foods are processed. Foods may be fortified to include more nutrients, for example, like calcium or fiber. Consumers are advised to choose foods that appear healthy according to the way they fit into their food pyramid, instead of relying on additional and often unproven beneficial claims.

There is no hard and fast rule about the category of foods that functional food might fit into. Functional foods could be sold in the form or bars, nutritional drinks, snacks such as cereals, healthy foods like whole grain or multigrain breads etc.

Nutrition bars can contain herbs, vitamins, mineral supplements and sometimes even proteins. There are many different forms including protein bars, meal replacement bars, energy bars, diet bars etc. However, one must carefully scrutinize the claims of each of these before making them a part of one’s daily diet.

Any drink product that is non-alcoholic and claims to provide any health benefits can be called a functional drink. These drinks may claim to contain vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids and raw fruit or vegetable components. Just like functional foods they provide specific health benefits that go beyond general nutrition. Some examples of functional drinks may be enhanced water, sports and performance drinks, energy drinks, enhanced fruit drinks, soy drinks etc. In addition to these, pro-biotic substances, like yogurt and flavored yogurt are also functional foods.

What are the benefits of functional foods?
Some examples of the benefits of functional foods are listed here. Live fermented milks and yogurts are beneficial as they improve digestive functioning. Margarine, cheese spreads, low sodium butter etc are rich in plant stereols and stanols that reduce cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Breakfast cereals have added folic acid that may reduce the risk of babies being born with spina bifida. Multigrain breads have added isafavones that may help reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancers, heart disease and heart disease. These are just some of the benefits of functional foods.

Functional foods can be found in your grocery store and you may already have some in your refrigerator or pantry! Remember, that to reap the benefits of functional foods, they need to be consumed in exactly the right quantities! Also remember that functional foods are an important part of an overall healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and plenty of exercise!

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Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: Boot Camps North Shore