Why Nutraceuticals ?

The Word Nutraceutical

• Formed from ‘nutrition’ and ‘pharmaceutical’
• Coined by Stephen DeFelice, MD, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine (FIM), Cranford, NJ
• Refers to a food – or part of a food – that provides health and medical benefits

Nutraceuticals are

• Any substance that is part of a food 
• Dietary supplements
• Isolated nutrients
• Genetically engineered designer foods
• Processed foods 
• Herbal products,
• Substance is used for the treatment and prevention of illnesses

Health Canada’s definition of nutraceutical

• A product derived from food 
• Sold as medicine 
• Used for physiological benefits 
• Used for protection from chronic diseases

Nutraceuticals are becoming very popular in the United States

• Medical treatment costs in America one of the highest in the world 
• Consumers want better preventive therapies for chronic diseases, more personalized medical care, and preventive solutions for effects of aging 
• Interest in preventive therapies and Nature cures is also sweeping the country

Growing Market

• Nutraceutical industry worth $86 billion in the United States 
• Industry even bigger in Europe and Japan
• Almost 40 percent of Americans try alternative medicinal therapies every year 
• Increasing number of physicians prescribing nutraceuticals before giving pharmaceutical drugs to patients
• Belief that they are just as good as pharmaceutical drugs but without side effects

Common claims about benefits of nutraceuticals

• Cartilage and joint health
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Stress reduction
• Cholesterol levels 
• Lung functions

Categories include

• Dietary supplements with botanicals 
• Some minerals
• Some vitamins
• Carnitine
• Co-enzyme Q 
• Ginseng
• Many others

Foods 

Functional foods include

• Bran
• Oats
• Lignin
• Psyllium 

Additionally 

• Probiotics
• Omega-3 acids
• Medicinal foods 
• Genetically engineered foods

Warning

• Medical experts and regulatory authorities say certified nutraceuticals still rare in market 
• Most raw materials used for the manufacture of nutraceuticals are imported therefore is no quality control 
• Very little data available on how the herbal and botanical ingredients – that go into manufacture of nutraceuticals – are cultivated
• Nutraceuticals clearly affect physiology but not tested as strictly as pharmaceutical drugs