Originally published July 27 2005
Nutraceutical industry grows as health awareness rises
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Nutraceutical industry, which focuses on the use of foods and food components in disease treatment and prevention is already an $80 billion global industry, and it continues to grow as an increasing number of people around the world become more aware of diet-disease links, rising health care costs and advances in nutrition and food technology.
It is not as if the role of food in total health care is something new to mankind.
The use of food to maintain or ensure man's health is as natural as the rising sun.
More than 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates, considered as the father of medicine, said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."
This set of nomenclature, according to research, is part of the nutrition evolution we are experiencing today which falls under the umbrella of nutraceuticals.
"Nutraceuticals are natural food components that provide health benefits or reduce the risk of chronic disease, above and beyond their basic nutritional functions," said Arthur Bautista, research and development manager for pharmaceuticals at the Splash Research Institute (SRI).
SRI is the science and research facility of the Splash group of companies, a personal care company which carries the brands Extraderm, Skin White, Maxipeel, and recently, Biolink.
Under this definition, nutraceuticals can range from foods and beverages fortified with vitamins, herbal dietary supplements, to actual food components in dosage form such as capsules or tablets.
Nutraceuticals is an US$ 80 billion global and growing industry and is widely popular in the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe.
Worldwide, the demand for nutraceuticals is driven by growing consumer awareness of diet-disease links, aging populations, rising health care costs, and advances in food technology and nutrition.
Currently, health concerns like cholesterol reduction, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis are the most attractive targets for nutraceuticals, followed by child development, high blood pressure, diabetes, GI disorders, menopause-related ailments and lactose intolerance.
A survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) shows that among the Manila respondents, a considerable 37.5 percent were aware of the benefits of nutraceutical products.
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