The concept of functional foods first showed up in Japan in the mid-80′s. While there’s no scientific or universal definition of a “functional food,” the term is generally applied to any food eaten for a specific health benefit. If you eat blueberries because you like the taste, then they’re just a food. If you eat them because you know the contain glucoquinine, which helps strengthen your eyes, then they become a “functional food.”
Now, we might need to explain a related term – “natraceutical”, which refers to ingredients taken from ordinary food and sold for its health benefits. This word is sometimes inter-changeable with the term “dietary supplements”. For instance, you can use both for blueberry and bilberry pills that are sold as vision support supplements.
Popular functional foods
The most common types of foods described as functional are vegetables and fruits eaten for the various vitamins, minerals and other nutrients they contain, and whole grains eaten as source of soluble fiber. Fish are often eaten for the omega-3 fatty acids they contain and many people also drink wine specifically for its beneficial effects on the circulatory system. Although berries are packed with vital nutrients, they’re often overlooked as a functional food simply because they taste good. It’s easy to forget they’re a “health food.”
Choosing the right dietary supplements
Obviously, selecting dietary supplement is not the same as selecting your food, and the decision has nothing to do with its taste. Now, there are just too many supplement products in the market, and most come with very bold claims. While you need to correctly understand of particular health needs, don’t forget the warnings from many physicians against possible overdosing, mixing of non-compatible supplement, or taking them along with other medications.
If you can follow the advice by your doctor and stay with well-balanced diet each and every day, there is no need for you to get any dietary supplements. The problem is very few of us can really stick to a healthy dieting habit. Therefore, you need to consider dietary supplement when you do not eat healthily, or if you are in a very special condition (such as pregnancy or breast feeding) where more nutrition is required by your body, or when you have a medical condition that impairs your digestion. You should also consider the need for health supplements if you are a vegetarian.
Keep in mind, though, that some dietary supplements can be almost as powerful as prescription medication. (After all, if they did nothing to your body, why would you even take them?) Before starting a new supplement, read up on its possible side effects and interactions and talk to your doctor about it, too. With all the junk food available today, it takes a little planning and forethought to eat well.
Functional foods and dietary supplements, when combined, will offer you a much better chance for meeting the nutritional needs by your body. However, as discussed, you need to plan well and not just pick up anything with big promise.
If you follow a weight loss plan that fills your day with eating the healthy foods (not all salads and fruit either!) then you will never feel hungry enough to have snacks from time to time. Check out our review of a fast weight loss diet that exactly delivers that. Also check out this related article about model’s dieting tips.
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