Nutraceuticals

Extracts, functional foods, nutraceuticals…

As we said in the previous video, these terms are often confused and used in relation to superfoods.

In this video, Dr. Michalska describes in more detail two of these terms: nutraceuticals and functional foods. Both classes of products represent an answer to the desire of improving our health by including natural compounds in our diet, such as omega-3 fatty acids or plant extracts.

However, there is not an agreement on how much nutraceuticals and functional foods we should ingest – if any. Surely it depends on our demographical characteristics, such as age and sex, but other aspects too, such as pregnancy or medical conditions.

However, it is important to note that while there is not a recommended intake for nutraceuticals or functional foods as a general category, there is a set of essential nutrients for which we are able to determine lower and upper intake limits. We will discuss in more detail essential nutrients in the third activity of this week, and next week we will approach the subjects of dietary recommendation and how to determine the micronutrient content of superfoods and their alternatives.