7 - Functional Foods

Abstract

Functional foods or ingredients (nutrients and nonnutrients) are a wide variety of products that have beneficial physiological effects when consumed because they affect a wide range of body functions relevant to a state of well-being and health and/or to the reduction of the risk of a particular disease. In this article the beneficial physiological effects in humans of the intake of dietary fiber including nondigestible prebiotics such as inulin, fructooligosaccharides, and galactooligosaccharides; ω3 and ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (particularly conjugated linoleic acid and docosahexaenoic acid); and bioactive peptides, polyphenols, and carotenoids, as well as probiotic microorganisms, are critically presented. To clarify the roles of these compounds in promoting health, a wide range of positive effects are discussed, including laxation, lower cholesterol and glucose levels in the blood, better immune response, lower risk of obesity and cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases, and antiarrhythmic, antiinflammatory, antihypertensive, antioxidant, opioid, hypocholesterolemic, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, antithrombotic, antiobesity, and anticancer properties, as well as their being mineral carriers.