Nutraceutical & Superfood: what is it and what advantages does it bring?

Nutraceutical & Superfood: what is it and what advantages does it bring?

Nutraceuticals 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 fusion of Nutrition and Pharmaceuticals.

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

Nutraceuticals ranges between various different sectors, such as biology, chemistry and medicine, and helps to understand how what we eat can affect health.

What are Nutraceuticals?

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

For the most part they are substances of vegetable origin, found for example in fruit or vegetables such 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 nutraceutical foods, they must contain certain active substances within them and in such quantities as to be able to bring benefits to health and in some cases prevent the onset of diseases.

Nutraceuticals are, in fact, governed by European Regulation 432/2012 (EN – FR), which establishes all the rules on nutritional and health claims, such as the use of claims.

Functional foods and nutraceuticals

Functional foods are:

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

Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Science.

Furthermore, in order for a food to be defined as functional, it must meet 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 that is scientifically proven.

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

As we have already said, nutraceuticals are the substances present in 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 EVO oil 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”.

Nutraceutics: 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 Ayurveda, ancient traditional Indian medicine, provides for the use of food for therapeutic purposes, but also the father of classical Western medicine, Hippocrates, maintained that food could represent medicine.

“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”

Hippocrates

In the modern era, great attention has returned to the theme of “eating well” through the study of foods and their ingredients.

There is an increasing 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 seem that conventional foods are increasingly poor in nutrients.

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

What are the benefits of the nutraceutical diet?

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

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, performing fundamental functions such as:

Support the immune system;
Help regulate gastrointestinal functions;
Prevent tiredness and fatigue even during physical activity;
Reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular or degenerative diseases;
Delay the aging process;
Help improve certain 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.

SUPERFOOD: what are they and what are they?

There is an increasing interest in nutrition and the importance of consuming nutrient-dense foods that are said to be able to confer health benefits, just like Superfoods.

There is no precise definition of Superfood, in fact this is nothing more than a commercial term coined to identify foods with important nutritional characteristics and has more than anything else the purpose of satisfying marketing needs.

But in any case, it is increasingly evident that a healthy and balanced diet can positively influence the health of the organism.

So, why not include nutrient-rich “superfoods” in your diet that can contribute to the normal functioning of the body? Let’s find out in detail what they are and what they are.

What are Superfoods?

Although there is no scientific definition, many have tried to give meaning to this term.

Often combined with functional foods or nutraceutical foods (from the syncrisis of nutrition and pharmaceuticals), superfoods are foods of plant origin, with important nutritional characteristics and minimally processed, even better if raw and organic.

They can be divided into several categories:

Superfruit, fruit.
Super grain, grains and cereals.
Superfoods, foods that do not fit into the previous categories.

The growing interest in this kind of food derives from the fact that conventional foods seem increasingly poor in nutrients.

For this reason, Superfoods can help to make up for these shortcomings.

They would be able to supply essential nutrients and positively influence the physiological functions of our body, to preserve and improve the state of health and in some cases even prevent the onset of certain diseases.

What makes these foods “super”?

The high nutritional properties are the main feature of superfoods, i.e. the presence of micronutrients, such as vitamins, mineral salts and in particular the presence of antioxidants.

Antioxidants are molecules that can help reduce the amount of harmful free radicals in the body.

Therefore, a food with antioxidant properties could help prevent the onset of certain oxidative stress diseases.

In 1991, the National Institute on Aging and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed an assessment tool for measuring the antioxidant potency of foods, called Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC).

As regards the nutrient content, it is important to refer to the nutritional declaration of the food. Based on the quantity of micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals present in it, that food will be able to boast some specific characteristics.

So, in conclusion, it is not the food itself that is ” super ” but what is present inside it that makes it so.

EFSA (European Commission for Food Safety) is the body responsible for ensuring that claims on food labeling and advertising relating to nutrition and health are meaningful and accurate, helping consumers to make informed choices.

For this reason, Regulation (EC) no. 1924/2006 (EN-FR) which contains all the rules on nutritional and health claims, such as the use of claims.

The objective of these rules is to ensure that any claim on the labelling, presentation or advertising of a food in the European Union is clear, accurate and based on scientific evidence.

What are Superfoods?

Since there is no specific definition of the term, there is not even a precise list of this category of food.

Let’s see in detail some foods that, due to their intrinsic characteristics, can be considered Superfoods:

Some vegetables such as broccoli, kale and spinach;
Fruits with great antioxidant power such as blueberries, pomegranate, açai berries and goji berries;
Cocoa rich in flavonoids;
Some tubers such as beetroot or maca, from which a powder with a tonic-apoptogenic action and presumed aphrodisiac properties is obtained;
Spirulina algae or moringa with a high content of micronutrients;
Green tea, such as Matcha, Gyokuro or Sencha, which has a large amount of catechins;
Coconut, especially the water or coconut oil that is obtained from its pulp;
Bee products, especially Manuka honey with an important antimicrobial action;
Some seeds such as chia or hemp seeds;
Roots like ginger and turmeric;
Wheatgrass or barley grass;
Cereals such as oats or quinoa, which contain important mineral salts and a good amount of protein.

It is a list that is constantly updated and which can include new foods in relation to their nutrient content.

Superfoods must certainly not be understood as “miraculous” foods or even as the panacea for all ills, but simply represent a valid aid for integrating precious nutrients into one’s diet, which must always be associated with a healthy lifestyle and a regular physical activity.

There are different types of diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, plant-based or vegan. But the solution for a healthy diet is almost always the same: lots of vegetables and fruit, a varied diet, moderate quantities, and why not, even the superfood we like best.