ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK OFFunctional Foods

Functional foods can be considered to be those whole, fortified, enriched or enhanced foods that provide health benefits beyond the provision of essential nutrients (e.g., vitamins and minerals), when they are consumed at efficacious levels as part of a varied diet on a regular basis. Linking the consumption of functional foods or food ingredients with health claims should be based on sound scientific evidence, with the ?gold standard? being replicated, randomized, placebo-controlled, intervention trials in human subjects.

Illustrated Handbook of Functional Foods reviews the current science of functional foods and nutraceuticals, focusing on their mechanisms of action in the human body that lead to disease prevention. There has recently been a rapid increase in consumer interest in the health-enhancing roles of specific foods or physiologically active food components, so-called functional foods. Generally speaking all foods are functional as they have nutritional value and are fundamental for survival. However, the term ?functional food? has a different connotation of providing an additional physiological benefit beyond basic nutritional requirements. For oriental cultures in particular, foods are viewed not only as essential for survival but also as a means of ensuring one?s health by ensuring a balanced intake of different foods assigned, for example, yin and yang attributions. Such knowledge has been accumulated over thousands of years. Eating habits and trends in food production and consumption have health, environmental and social impacts. Diet has implications on instinctive health. Instinctive complications, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn?s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and gluten therapy resistant celiac, result from overgrowth and imbalance of intestinal microbial flora, and are related to one?s diet. Health professionals are gradually recognizing the role of phytochemicals in health enhancement. This Text includes a discussion of how functional foods are currently defined, the strength of the evidence both required and thus far provided for many of these products, safety considerations in using some of these products, factors driving the functional foods phenomenon, and finally, what the future may hold for this new food category. Although there is evidence that certain functional foods or food ingredients can play a role in disease prevention and health promotion, safety considerations should be paramount. Safety concerns have recently been raised, particularly with regard to the seemingly indiscriminate addition of botanicals to foods.

The Illustrated Handbook of Functional Foods the book analyzes the nutritional and physiological benefits of functional foods, the effect and development of active ingredients in functional foods.