Functional Food

Nowadays, we put more and more emphasis on healthy lifestyle or proper nutrition and its influence on our health. And that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to do on an everyday basis by showing you ideas for healthy and easy recipes. One of the topics among all the information that we come across is functional food. What does it mean? Let me fill you in on that topic a little bit.

Functional food has a beneficial effect on our health. However, it’s not only about the essential nutrients that it contains. What then makes a product fall into the functional food category?

 

 

 

The properties of functional food

In order to be included in the functional food category, a product must meet the following criteria:

 

• Functional foods should be conventional foods. This means that functional foods should be those that most of us consume on a daily basis and that are part of the usual diet. Moreover, the beneficial properties of functional foods should be observable already with their standard consumption. Functional foods cannot be in the form of tablets, drops, or capsules.

• Functional foods should contain so-called active ingredients In order for a given food product to be included in the functional food category, it should also contain ingredients with bioactive effects. You will find more information on this topic further down the post.

• Functional foods must have scientifically proven beneficial effects
  Functional foods include those types of foods that have proven beneficial effects on the body’s health (e.g. reducing cholesterol, helping to fight constipation).

• Functional foods should have a beneficial effect on health
  Food can be considered functional if it has been proven to have a beneficial effect on improving health and reducing the risk of developing diseases.

 

 

 

How is functional food produced?

During the functional food production process, various treatments are used to improve the nutritional properties of the product or to give it new health-promoting properties. The production process may include:

• removal of a selected ingredient or several ingredients from the product – this treatment allows the removal of harmful ingredients that adversely affect human health;
• change in the content of natural ingredients found in food – this change is usually intended to enhance the beneficial effects of the food;
• adding an ingredient that does not naturally occur in a product – thanks to this the product acquires new health-promoting properties;
• improving the bioavailability of food or nutrients contained in them – as a result of which the absorption of a given ingredient that has a positive effect on health increases.

 

 

Types of functional food

Depending on its intended use, functional food can reduce the risk of developing some diseases. This category includes functional food products for:

• weight loss (e.g. reduced fat and sugar);
• reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (e.g. margarines enriched with plant sterols (substances that lower blood cholesterol));
• improving the functioning of the digestive tract (e.g. yogurt with the addition of probiotics or products enriched with dietary fiber);
• prevention of osteoporosis (e.g. calcium enriched juices and vegetable drinks);
• reducing the allergenic properties of the product (e.g. products that do not contain soy or milk).

What’s more, functional food can be divided depending on which target group it is intended for. Thanks to this, we distinguish functional food intended for:

• for infants (e.g. iron-enriched cereal);
• for athletes (e.g. energy drinks or energy bars, isotonic drinks, protein-enriched foods);
• for pregnant and lactating women (e.g. cereal enriched with folic acid);
• for the elderly (e.g. margarines enriched with omega-3 acids).

 

Some statistics

Currently, health-promoting products in Japan account for 15% of all the food sold. In the US, cereals, non-alcoholic beverages and dairy products have the largest share in sales of functional foods. It is estimated that almost half of the food in the US is bought for health reasons. In Europe, almost 50% of functional foods are ‘functional’ dairy products, and around 30% are cereal products. The functional food market is developing at a very fast pace. Below you will find  examples of the most popular functional foods.

 

 

 

Examples of functional foods

 

Food enriched with antioxidants

I have already written on the blog about antioxidants many times, for example  HERE. Let me just remind that antioxidants include vitamins A, C, E, as well as zinc, selenium or plant flavonoids. The role of antioxidants is to protect the body against free radicals. Thanks to this, antioxidants delay aging and prevent e.g. cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

 

Food enriched with omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fats have anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant properties and also lower blood triglyceride levels. As a result, they protect us against cardiovascular diseases. In addition, they have a positive effect on memory and concentration, and support the immune system in the fight against infections.

 

Foods enriched with plant sterols

Foods enriched with plant sterols (eg margarine or yogurt) help us lower levels of “bad” cholesterol in the blood, and thus reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases.

 

Food enriched with dietary fiber

The aim of food enriched with dietary fiber is to regulate bowel function and prevent constipation.

 

Food enriched with probiotics

These types of products are particularly useful in the case of gastrointestinal disorders. In the production of probiotic foods, live lactic acid bacteria cultures are used, in particular strains of the genus Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. You can read more about the properties of probiotics HERE.

 

As you can see, the functional food market is constantly developing. Certainly, using this type of food has many advantages. On the other hand, remember that functional foods cannot replace a healthy diet. Spreading bread with margarine and sterols is useless if you don’t limit your cholesterol and animal fat intake…

 

Bibliography:

1. Błaszczak A, Grześkiewicz W. Żywność funkcjonalna – szansa czy zagrożenie dla zdrowia? Medycyna Ogólna i Nauki o Zdrowiu. 2014; 20(2): 214-221.
2. Kudełka W, Łobaz D. Charakterystyka żywności funkcjonalnej. Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Ekonomicznej w Krakowie. 2007; 743: 91-120.
3. Mironiuk K. Żywność funkcjonalna – wyzwanie dla konsumenta, szansa dla producenta. Roczniki Naukowe SERiA. 2018; XX(5):112-118.
4. Świderski F, Waszkiewicz-Robak B, Hoffmann M. Żywność funkcjonalna – implikacje żywieniowe. Żywność. 2001; 4(29) Suppl: 133-149.