Nutraceuticals: New Era of Medicine and Health
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Vol.3 Issue 1, January-March 2010 ISSN 0974-2441 Nutraceuticals: new era of medicine and health Manisha Pandey *, Rohit K Verma, Shubhini A Saraf Department of Pharmaceutics, Babu Banarasi Das National Institute of Technology and Management, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – 227105, India. ARTICLE Address for correspondence: Manisha Pandey, Department of Pharmaceutics, Babu Banarasi Das National Institute of Technology and Management, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – 227105, India. E-mail: [email protected] The concept of nutraceutical was stared from the survey in U.K., Germany and France which concluded that diet is rated more highly by consumers than exercise or hereditary factors for achieving good health. Nutraceutical is a term VIEW coined to describe substances which are not traditionally recognized nutrients but which have positive physiological effects on the human body. They do not easily fall into the legal category of food and drug and often inhabit a grey area RE between the two. Risk of toxicity or adverse effect of drugs led us to consider safer nutraceutical and functional food based approaches for the health management. This resulted in a world wide nutraceutical revolution. The nutraceutical RESEARCH ARTICLE RESEARCH revolution will lead us into a new era of medicine and health, in which the food industry will become a research- oriented one similar to the pharmaceutical industry. Keywords: Nutraceuticals, Medicine, Functional foods. INTRODUCTION was commonly used, but no regulatory The quality of life in terms of income, spending definition existed. Its meaning was modified by and lifestyle has improved with economic health ministry of Canada which defines development. However, it has also thrown up a nutraceutical as “a product isolated or purified major challenge in the form of `lifestyle from the food, generally sold in medicinal form diseases'. The first victim of this lifestyle not associated with food and demonstrated to change has been food habits. Consumption of have a physiological benefit .It also provides junk food has increased manifold, which has led benefit against chronic disease” [7] . to a number of diseases related to nutritional deficiencies. Nutraceuticals can play an important role in controlling them. No wonder more and more people are turning to nutraceuticals. The term nutraceutical was coined from nutrition and pharmaceutical (Figure 1) in 1989 by Stephen Defelice, founder and chairman of Figure 1. Nutraceutical was coined from foundation for innovation in medicine, an nutrition and pharmaceutical American organization which encourages medical health [1, 2, 3, 4] . According to him “a In Britain, the Ministry of Agriculture, nutraceutical is any substance that is a food or a Fisheries and Food has developed a definition part of food and provides medical or health of a functional food as "a food that has a benefits, including the prevention and treatment component incorporated into it to give it a of disease”. Such products may range from specific medical or physiological benefit, other isolated nutrients, dietary supplements and than purely nutritional benefit [8] . specific diets to genetically engineered designer foods and herbal products [1, 5] . The There is a slight difference between the concept of nutraceutical was stared from the functional foods and nutraceuticals. When food survey in U.K., Germany and France and it is being cooked or prepared using "scientific concluded that diet is rated more highly by intelligence" with or without knowledge of consumer then exercise or hereditary factors to how or why it is being used, the food is called achieving a good health. In the U.S. “nutraceutical" "functional food". Thus, functional food provides Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research Page 11 Vol.3 Issue 1, January-March 2010 ISSN 0974-2441 the body with the required amount of vitamins, fats, area between the two [13] . proteins, carbohydrates, etc. needed for its healthy survival. When functional food aids in the Within European Union (EU) law the legal prevention and/or treatment of disease(s) and/or categorization of a nutraceutical is, in general, made disorder(s) other than anemia, it is called a on the basis of its accepted effects on the body. nutraceutical. Examples of nutraceuticals include Thus, if the substance contributes only to the fortified dairy products (e.g. milk) and citrus fruits maintenance of healthy tissues and organs it may be (e.g. orange juice) [9] . considered to be a food ingredient. If, however, it can be shown to have a modifying effect on one or The DSHEA formally defined "dietary supplement" more of the body’s physiological processes, it is using several criteria. A dietary supplement: [10] likely to be considered to be a medicinal substance (Figure 2) [14] . Within European Medicines law a • is a product (other than tobacco) that is intended nutraceutical can be defined as a medicine for two to supplement the diet that bears or contains one reasons: or more of the following dietary ingredients- a vitamin, a mineral, a herb or other botanicals, 1) It can used for the prevention, treatment or cure amino acids or a dietary substance for use by man of a condition or disease or to supplement the diet by increasing the total daily 2) It can be administered with a view to restoring, intake or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, correcting or modifying physiological functions extract, or combinations of these ingredients. in human beings [15] . • is intended for ingestion in pill, capsule, tablet or liquid form. • is not represented for use as a conventional food or as the sole item of a meal or diet. • is labeled as a "dietary supplement". Benefits From the consumers' point of view, functional foods and nutraceuticals may offer many benefits: Figure 2. Nutraceutical inhabit a grey area between the food and drug • May increase the health value of our diet. • May help us live longer. CLASSIFICATION OF NUTRACEUTICALS • May help us to avoid particular medical conditions. • May have a psychological benefit from doing Regarding the promise of nutraceuticals, they something for oneself. should be considered in two ways: • May be perceived to be more "natural" than traditional medicine and less likely to produce • Potential nutraceuticals unpleasant side-effects. • Established nutraceuticals • May present food for populations with special needs (e.g. nutrient-dense foods for the elderly) [11]. A potential nutraceutical is one that holds a promise of a particular health or medical benefit; such a Bridging the gap between food and medicine potential nutraceutical only becomes an established one after there are sufficient clinical data to Hippocrates highlighted around 2000year ago “Let demonstrate such a benefit. It is disappointing to food be your medicine and medicine be your food” note that the overwhelming majority of [5] . Nutraceuticals are foods or food ingredients that nutraceutical products are in the 'potential' category, [1] provide medical or health benefits. This emerging waiting to become established . The food products [16] class of products blurs the line between food and used as nutraceutical are categorized as . drugs [12] . They do not easily fall into the legal categories of food or drug and often inhabit a grey • Probiotic Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research Page 12 Vol.3 Issue 1, January-March 2010 ISSN 0974-2441 • Prebiotic studies/trials to provide the basis for health claims • Dietary fiber for nutraceuticals that impact consumers as well as [20] • Omega 3 fatty acid companies making strategic investments . • Antioxidant Powerful market forces are fueling the interest in nutraceuticals: [21] AREA COVERED BY NUTRACEUTICAL PRODUCTS • Rapid advances in scientific knowledge supporting the vital role of diet in health and All therapeutic areas such as anti-arthritic, pain disease prevention. killers, cold and cough, sleeping disorders, • Skyrocketing health care costs. digestion and prevention of certain cancers, • An aging population. osteoporosis, blood pressure, cholesterol, • Technical advances in the food industry that are depression and diabetes have been covered by allowing the development of health promoting nutraceuticals (Figure 3) [17] . foods that can be marketed to health-conscious consumers at a premium. • The changing regulatory environment. hypert ension Diabet es [21] Ost eoporosis Role of R and D in nutraceutical lipid control Cancer CHD • To test safety, purity and potency of products. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% • To develop more effective and efficient means of % of respondent s producing ingredients for use in products. Figure 3. Percentage area covered by nutraceutical • To develop testing methods for ensuring and products verifying the consistency of the dosage of ingredients included in the company’s products. NUTRACEUTICALS REVOLUTION • Develop the new products either by combining existing ingredients used in nutritional The nutraceuticals revolution began in the early supplements or identifying new ingredients that 1980s, sparked off when the actual or potential can be used in nutritional supplements. clinical benefits of calcium, fiber and fish oil were supported by clinical studies published in MARKET TRENDS OF NUTRACEUTICALS distinguished medical journals, and when physicians began to educate their colleagues and The nutraceutical industry's three main segments consumers about these substances via the mass include functional foods, dietary supplements, and [5] media [1] . herbal/natural