5 reasons to start eating functional foods

Is it possible to be treated with the most common products that we used to consume every day? Modern scientists say yes. Such products are not complete medicines. But they can be effective means of preventing the occurrence of various diseases.

COLADY will tell you why you need to take functional foods, what are their benefits.

See also: Nutritional Basics for Health and Beauty.

Useful composition of functional products

Ancient man spent much more energy than our contemporaries, so the ancestors needed a lot of food. Large amounts of food replenished not only the spent energy, but also the reserves of vitamins, microelements and other, no less necessary, substances.

Modern man leads a sedentary lifestyle, and therefore he does not need as much energy as his ancestors. But smaller meals contain fewer vitamins and other beneficial compounds. As a result, it turns out that we get energy, but we do not get proper and adequate nutrition. Modern portions are not able to replenish the reserves of all the substances necessary for the normal existence of the body, and with an increase in the volume of food, various diseases arise, for example, obesity.

It is for this reason that, for the first time, in the 90s of the last century, Japanese scientists thought about creating products with increased benefits. This is how the first functional products appeared.

Functional foods – These are specific food products, the use of which is aimed at reducing the risk of various diseases. They have a positive effect on health by strengthening the immune system.

Their specificity:

• FP (functional foods) are not drugs or dietary supplements. For this reason, overdose is impossible.
• For the production of FP use only environmentally friendly raw materials, does not contain genetically modified components.
• The benefits of such products must be scientifically proven. If there is no evidence, then the product cannot be called functional.
• Functional products contain in large quantities:
  • Lactic acid bacteria: pro- and prebiotics
  • Vitamins
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Eicosapentanoic acid
  • Fiber
  • Alimentary fiber
  • Bioflavonoids
  • Antioxidants
  • Polyunsaturated fatty acids
  • Essential amino acids
  • Squirrels
  • Peptides
  • Glycosides
  • Cholines
  • Essential minerals
• All supplements must be of natural, natural origin. So, yogurt with the addition of calcium is not a functional food, but simply fortified. Calcium in it is synthetic. Yoghurt with lacto- and bifidobacteria is a functional product, as are carrot juice with cream and bran bread.

Functional nutrition has a special place among all diets and theories of healthy food, because it convinces people to switch to new foods – foods fortified with useful substances. This is a new round of evolution, like the transition from raw food to cooking.

With functional nutrition, you can do the impossible. For example, turn the harmful into the useful. So, it is possible that fries and hamburgers will soon become a dietary dish – if they contain more fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. By the way, in Japan there is already chocolate for heart disease and beer for diabetes.

And in Germany, for example, advertising of functional foods is not permitted. And you can see why. After all, what excitement will come if open campaigning for FP begins, how many unscrupulous manufacturers will take advantage of this turmoil!

Types of functional foods

FP is divided into:

• Ready, i.e. those that nature itself came up with. For example, broccoli is the healthiest cabbage. It already contains a large amount of easily digestible vitamins, plant proteins and microelements.
• Specially enrichedeg orange juice with natural calcium. After all, everyone knows that vitamin C enhances its absorption.

Functional nutrition is a new word in dietetics. Nowadays you can find cereals, drinks and juices, breads and soups, sports nutrition and dairy products, endowed with the necessary substances. They are sold most often in pharmacies or specialty stores.

It is very problematic to create such a product at home.because most of them have a complex composition. In addition, the concentration of nutrients in them must be measured down to mg, which is impossible to repeat at home.

Why you should eat functional foods – 5 reasons

1. Naturalness. It cannot contain artificial inclusions and synthetic substances.
2. Lack of dyes, preservatives and other chemicals… Moreover, FP have a long shelf life, which is explained only by natural properties.
3. Such products should be ready to eat or require minimal heat treatment. So that nutrients are not destroyed from high temperatures.
4. FP should provide daily human need for biologically valuable substances.
5. The peculiarity of these products is that they are mainly designed not for energy value, but for food (functional) and biological.

Today, most of humanity is concerned about losing weight. A functional nutrition can help you cope with excess weight.

• Functional nutrition as an effective prevention protects against the occurrence of many diseases… After all, a sick organism, as you know, often gains weight. Pro- and prebiotics act in the gastrointestinal tract, improve digestion and increase immunity.
• Biological value reduces the calorie content of food… Mainly by increasing the amount of indigestible and indigestible fiber.
• Saturation of foods with vitamin E helps to reduce weight…
• A healthy body has an increased metabolism, and therefore fats are simply not deposited in it.

The trend of our time is the desire for everything environmentally friendly and healthy, because no money and the benefits of civilization can replace our health. Therefore, functional nutrition is gaining popularity all over the planet. And, perhaps, someday there will simply be no harmful products left, and it will be possible to lose weight on a donut diet.

What do you think about functional nutrition? Share your opinion in the comments!