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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 #10 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. Nutrition Articles #10 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 Nutrition Articles #10 Nutrition Wordsearch 10 Y R U R E S E C R K C N P G I T M A C T G T D D T G O A M N N R W E A A D E O I R V N O W I H C N G R C N A R A S P N R O E O O C I O S N O O S L K N A A K O O T D R U N N T T I W V O E G G T O D H O O T E D S G S E U T U T E T S C V I N C S R R U A N X M I E I R L A R S L O T L S A M G S T I R S N O U T L U H P O I G N E G S R A H B G U I C T P U S R D O C R R G A D R S O S T R V E I Y G R C E S O I C N S N T C N D S R N L A T L A O O R T S N S C O S E S M T L I A N E R R C S T S D A S I E U A U I N R N G M S E N E R T B T I E L R V U R M X T I G A T V T F R E C __________ name C D K I M S O N T I T A S A I U A O X A I E O D M I I S E O N D L O N N P D I L T T K E T T L L G X E I T C S O P L G H G I L A T B A O O I D A T I R T Y M T A O E M N R T C E O D T I T O C C E S O E U C E O O S S E T A O E S E A N C N O S W T C C O A M R D N S I R L R I N T T S I C L I H I O R A T S I C M E T T E H I O E T P I A L L I S M I N N I R N O R L W D B D C S N N T C U O C T O F R A I S I R I C R I G O N M S E I E D R U L T L I E L A O R O L M N S T I I T T S T O I T L G I X A O G O T D W N N O D E X U O O M E C S R Use the clues below to discover words in the above puzzle. Circle the words. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. antioxidants broccoli calcium consumers dangerous diet doctor extracts functional ginko The Advantage Press, Inc. ©2001 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. hindrance marketing osteoporosis psyllium sciences supermarket testing tooth valid wort Nutrition Articles #10