Nutrition and Dietetics

Biography

Biography: N.T. ATCHAYA

Abstract

Nutraceutical is the hybrid of ‘nutrition’ and ‘pharmaceutical’. Nutraceuticals, in broad, are food or part of food playing a significant role in maintaining well being, enhancing health, modulating immunity and thereby preventing as well as treating chronic diseases. It provides physiological health benefits as well as medicinal implications.Nutraceuticals are medicinal foods that can be characterized as dietary fibers, prebiotics, Probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and other different types of herbal/ natural foods. Major constituents of the nutraceuticals are herbal products, various nutrients, dietary supplements that help in preventing different diseases and minimizing pathophysiology of the disease too.The principal reasons for the growth of the nutraceutical market worldwide are the current population and the health trends. Extensive scientific research which has linked foods of plant origin and health has resulted in the understanding that plant bio-active compounds have antioxidant and other health-promoting properties. Nutraceuticals with various bioactivities towards human body are known for their ability to provide health benefits. Nutraceuticals are non-specific biological therapies used to promote wellness, prevent malignant processes and control symptoms. They act as immune boosting, a natural antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-obese, anti-diabetic, cardioprotective, organ protective agents in addition to different health-promoting effects.  These nutraceuticals help in combating some of the major health problems of the century such as cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, cholesterol etc.They provide protection against non-communicable diseases, delay the ageing process, increase life expectancy and overall improve the function of the body. In whole, ‘nutraceutical’ has lead to the new era of medicine and health, in which the food industry has become a research oriented sector.