Download Functional Foods 10

Functional Foods
New York Times
Someone has been playing with your food
— extra calcium in your orange juice, soy
powder in your oatmeal and ginseng in
your iced tea.
Welcome to the world of functional foods.
While some foods have been “fortified” for
years to prevent nutritional deficiencies
(such as fortified milk and enriched flour),
functional foods contain added nutrients,
phytochemicals and herbs aimed to offer
some health benefit or
lower risk of disease.
Supermarket
shelves are full of
old foods with
new ingredients,
and consumers are
spending $16 billion a year
on them.
The International Food Information Council defines functional foods as foods that
provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. The Institute of Medicine of the
National Academy of Sciences limits functional foods to those in which the concentrations of one or more ingredients have
been manipulated or modified to enhance
their contribution to a healthful diet.
Whole foods, such as broccoli, carrots and
tomatoes, are especially rich in
phytochemicals and would represent a
simple example of a functional food. Other
The Advantage Press, Inc. ©2001
10
foods are modified with nutrients,
phytochemicals or botanicals with healthenhancing claims. Beverages may have
antioxidants added, such as vitamin C or
E, beta-carotene or herbal additives such
as echinacea, kava or gingko. You can even
find soups with St. John’s wort and gum
with phosphatidyl serine.
Be a Critical Consumer
The enactment of the Dietary Supplement
Health and Education Act of 1994 exempts
dietary supplements from the stringent approval process required for food additives.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
does not have to approve “structure-function” claims that manufacturers make for
their products and the manufacturer does
not have to include any scientific basis for
their claims. As long as the labeling does
not claim the food to be linked to a specific disease, the marketers of these products have taken great liberty touting benefits for which the consumer has no guarantee of safety or efficacy.
For example, a special ingredient added to
a food cannot claim that the food reduces
the risk of heart disease, but a structurefunction claim that the food “maintains
healthy cholesterol” is now allowed. The
FDA does not require that the foods be
tested, nor does the food maker have to
back the claim with any evidence.
Questions hide beneath the slick marketNutrition Articles
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ing hype and high-tech food processing. A
beverage with a couple of drops of gingko
biloba can tout its special memory-enhancing attributes. However, consumers don’t
know how much gingko they are consuming or if it is enough to get a memory boost.
And consumers may not be aware of the
dangers of interactions between the herbs
and medications they are taking. If the consumer is on Coumadin and drinks a gingkofortified beverage, the drug’s anti-coagulant abilities may be compromised and put
the consumer at risk of bleeding or stroke,
since gingko acts as a blood thinner. The
labels are not required to contain any warnings, even if the added herb is unsafe for
children or pregnant women.
Food manufacturers do not knowingly produce dangerous food products, and many
functional foods provide the consumer with
appropriate enhancements. But consumers
should beware of what is added to their
food, how much is added and what risks
are involved so they can make informed
choices.
Valid Benefits
There are valid benefits to functional foods,
such as sneaking in vitamins and minerals
you may lack. Many people do not consume the approximately 800 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium needed per day, and
products with added calcium, such as
juices, cereal, snack bars, pasta, waffles and
candy, can help. Using these calcium-fortified foods will help reduce the risk of
osteoporosis for those who cannot consume
The Advantage Press, Inc. ©2001
an adequate amount of calcium. However,
exceeding the upper limit of calcium can
cause problems as well.
Some functional foods are extensively
tested and do meet FDA food-additive
regulations in order to make disease
claims. For example, clinical trials of psyllium fiber have shown it to reduce the risk
of heart disease. Breads, pastas and snack
foods with this additive can make a difference. Folic acid can reduce the risk for
neural tube defects, beta-glucan soluble
fiber can reduce cholesterol, and sugar
alcohols can reduce tooth decay. Tests
show the new functional margarines that
contain stanol esters or soybean extracts
are effective in lowering cholesterol.
However, don’t expect functional foods
to correct a lousy diet. Building a diet of
wholesome foods naturally packed with
nutrients and phytochemicals that reduce
the risk of cancer, heart disease, high
blood pressure, eye disease, etc., is the best
way to go. If you have
specific nutritional
needs, you can select the functional foods that
benefit you,
but choose
wisely. Be
an
informed
consumer.
If you ever have a question about the validity of a label, ask your doctor.
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Nutrition Questions 10
______________
name
Use the space provided to write answers to each of the questions. Make certain your
answers are in complete sentences.
1.
What do functional foods contain?
2.
How does the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences define
functional food?
3.
Which foods are rich in phytochemicals?
4.
What did the enactment of the Dietary Supplement health and Education Act of
1994 accomplish?
5.
Why shouldn’t you expect functional foods to correct a lousy diet?
6.
What do tests show about the new functional margarines that contain stanol
esters or soybean extracts?
The Advantage Press, Inc. ©2001
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Nutrition Wordsearch 10
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Use the clues below to discover words in the above puzzle. Circle the words.
1.
2.
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5.
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7.
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10.
antioxidants
broccoli
calcium
consumers
dangerous
diet
doctor
extracts
functional
ginko
The Advantage Press, Inc. ©2001
11.
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20.
hindrance
marketing
osteoporosis
psyllium
sciences
supermarket
testing
tooth
valid
wort
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