|
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Norelift is a French jelly stuffed with anti-wrinkle substances. Bust-Up is a breast firming gum that’s the rage in Japan. Foods of the future will be expected to multi-task just like the rest of us. This could turn the definition of healthy foods upside down.
The boundaries between food and medicine have been challenged since the 1980s fueling an explosion in functional foods. Health-conscious consumers are driving the demand for products that promote better health, increase longevity, and prevent disease. Currently, there is no agreement on a definition of functional foods and little regulation.
Most would agree that a functional food is any food that provides health benefits beyond basic nutrition. This would include tomatoes (high in lycopene), energy bars, infant formulas with DHA, fiber-enhanced bread, gluten-free foods, and yogurt with probiotics. Only Japan defines functional foods as a distinct category and has one of the most advanced markets worldwide.
People interested in self-care are increasingly seeking diet-based solutions to well-being. Aging baby boomers seek foods designed to improve heart health, bone and joint health, brain function, and eye health. Younger adults are looking to improve their stamina and productivity. Parents want to feed their children foods that improve health, prevent allergies, and treat behavioral issues. Everyone hopes the foods of tomorrow offer the route to optimum well-being.
We’ve all eaten functional foods without realizing it. Tomatoes, raspberries, kale and broccoli are rich in bioactive, health-promoting components such as lycopene, ellagic acid, leutin and sulforahane. Research has shown that eating citrus fruits can reduce the risk of stomach cancer. Nuts and peanuts reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death. And, cranberry juice can help treat urinary tract infections. We don’t think of our morning juice as a drug, but foods rich in functional substances bridge the food/drug spectrum.
Other foods are modified or enhanced to add a health-promoting effect. You may regularly buy calcium-fortified orange juice to boost your overall calcium intake. By making this choice, you are adding a functional food to your daily intake because natural oj is not rich in calcium. All breads and cereal could be considered functional because they add to our iron and folate intake through fortification. And, your salt shaker is rich in iodine because most table salt is fortified with this mineral.
Today the marketplace for functional foods has become innovative and resourceful. Foods are delivering energy-promoting ingredients such as ginseng, guarana and taurine. Eggs are enriched with lutein extracts from marigolds to support eye health. Vitamins and antioxidants are added to cosmetics to effect skin health. This topical application of nutrients has largely been ignored by the food industry but embraced by consumers.
Fiber, omega-3 fats, probiotics, and plant stanols and sterols are popping up in an ever increasing variety of food products we buy.
Fiber is everywhere as consumers are bombarded with messages that we eat too little and fiber is vital for health. The important question, yet unanswered, will adding isolated fiber compounds to foods normally low in fiber have the same health benefits as the naturally occurring fiber found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables? We simply don’t know. Perhaps time will tell.
Omega-3 fatty acids, in short supply in American diets, are traditionally found in fish and fish oil. Today omega-3 fats are being added to juice, brownies, cream cheese, chocolate, peanut butter and salad dressing.
Plant stanols and sterols are natural substances added to margarine that can help lower cholesterol when eaten at least twice a day. Food technologists are now perfecting a form of water-soluble plant sterols that can be added to beverages which will enlarge the potential for fortifying foods.
Probiotics, which support a healthy immune system and protect us from unfriendly bacteria, are showing up everywhere. Originally found mostly in yogurt, which provided a perfect medium for the survival of these healthful bacteria, today a dormant form of the bacteria can be added to crackers, cereal, energy bars, teas, dry soups, infant formulas, and drinks mixes which activates when the food becomes wet.
Today the aisles of the grocery store are fertile hunting grounds for the discovery of an ever-increasing array of functional foods with unending promises of wellness. It is predicted that this market will grow steadily through 2013 reaching $43 billion in yearly sales. The landscape of food and nutrition is changing. Will regularly eating functional foods make us all wrinkle-free, younger, healthier and smarter? Stay tuned, time will tell.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales in excess of 7 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
The Diabetes Carbohydrate and Calorie Counter, 3rd Ed., 2007
The Calorie Counter, 4th Ed., 2007
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to The Nutrition Experts
Subscribe to our FREE Ezine and be eligible for Health News, discounted products/services and coupons related to your Health. We publish 24/7.
HealthNewsDigest.com
We also create, produce and distribute tv/cable public service campaigns: HealthyTelevisionProductions