Lecture Discovering nutrition - Chapter 7a: Spotlight on dietary supplements and functional foods

After studying this chapter you will be able to understand: Dietary supplements: vitamins and minerals, dietary supplements: natural health products, dietary supplements in the marketplace, functional foods.

Spotlight on

Dietary Supplements and Functional Foods

• Pregnant and breastfeeding women

• Women with heavy menstrual losses

• Children

• People with severe food restrictions

• Strict vegetarians who abstain from animal foods and dairy products

• Older adults

• Others

Dietary Supplements: Vitamins and Minerals

• Moderate supplementation

– Look for brands that contain at

least 20 vitamins and minerals

– No more than 100% of its DV

Dietary Supplements: Vitamins and Minerals

• Megadoses in conventional medical management

Dietary Supplements:

Vitamins and Minerals

• Megadosing beyond conventional medicine: orthomolecular nutrition

– Achieving the optimal nutrition levels in

the body

– Drawbacks of megadoses

• Can act as a drug

• Can create deficits of other nutrients

• Can interfere with absorption of others

Dietary Supplements:

Natural Health Products

• Natural health products

– Herbal therapy (phytotherapy)

• Traditional medical practices

• Little scientific evidence of efficacy, safety

Dietary Supplements: Natural Health Products

• Helpful herbs, harmful herbs

Dietary Supplements:

Natural Health Products

• Helpful herbs, harmful herbs

– Strong enough to help, strong enough to hurt

– Can interfere with standard medicines

– DANGER: Examples of products with toxic side effects

Dietary Supplements:

Natural Health Products

• Quality control issues

– Contaminants

– Poorly standardized strength or potency

• Regulations

– Current good manufacturing practices

• Other dietary supplements

– Hundreds of products

Dietary Supplements in the

Marketplace

• Freedom of speech and press

• The FTC and supplement advertising

– Federal Trade Commission

• The FDA and supplement regulation

– Dietary Supplement Health and

Dietary Supplements in the

Dietary Supplements in the

–Examples

• Calcium and osteoporosis

• Folate and neural tube defects

Dietary Supplements in the

Dietary Supplements in the

Marketplace

• Nutrient content claims

– Consistent with definitions approved for foods

• Canadian regulations

– Natural health products regulations

Dietary Supplements in the

Marketplace

• Choosing dietary supplements

– Is the quantity enough to have an

effect?

– Is the product new to you?

– What is its bioavailability?

– Can it interact with any prescription or other medications you are taking?

– Does the product promise too much?– Who is selling the product?

– U.S Pharmacopeia verification

Dietary Supplements in the

Marketplace

• Fraudulent products

– Potential warning signs (examples)

• Claim to be alternatives to FDA-approved drugs

• Claim to be a legal alternative to steroids

• Marketed primarily in a foreign language/mass emails

Dietary Supplements in the

Marketplace

• Fraudulent products

– Secret cure (“breakthrough”)

– Pseudomedical jargon (e.g., “detoxify”)– Cures a wide range of diseases

– No side effects, only benefits

– Backed by “scientific research” you can’t find

– Remember, if it sounds too good to be true…

Functional Foods

• Provide health benefits beyond nutrition

• Phytochemicals

– Antioxidants

• Neutralize free radicals

• Reduce heart disease, cancer risk– Found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and wine

Phytochemicals Make Food

• Phytoestrogens– Neutralize free radicals

Phytochemicals Make Food

Phytochemicals Make Food

Functional

• Foods enhanced with functional ingredients

– Adding health promoting properties during processing

Phytochemicals Make Food

• Additives in functional foods

– Herbs and other novel ingredients

– GRAS guidelines apply

Food Additives

• Purpose of direct additives

– Maintain product consistency

– Improve or maintain nutritional value

– Keep food appetizing and wholesome– Provide leavening or control acidity and alkalinity

– Enhance flavor or color

Food Additives

• Regulation by FDA

– Food additives: FDA approval;

manufacturer must prove safety

– Color additives: FDA approval;

manufacturer and FDA tests batches for purity

• Example: any dye that impacts color

Food Additives

• Regulation by FDA

– Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)

• Example: salt, sugar, spices– Prior-sanctioned substance

• Example: sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite

Food Additives

• Delaney Clause

– Apply to food additives

– Apply to color additives

– No approval if additive causes cancer

• Human

• Animals– Controversy associated with amount tested in animals vs actual human consumption

Claims for Functional Foods

• Structure/function claims for functional foods

– Based on nutritive value of foods

– Not as stringently regulated as health claims

Strategies for Functional Food

Use

• Stick with the science

– Eat fruit and vegetables

– Eat nutrition-fortified products as

needed

– Read, read, read (scientific articles)

– Be critical of advertising and hype

– If it sounds too good to be true, it

probably is!

Complementary and Alternative

Complementary and Alternative