Confused yet?
Here’s a summary of Nutraceuticals v/s Supplements and how they fit within the Functional Foods umbrella:
Functional foods look like food and are modified for greater nutritional value.
Dietary supplements look like drugs and are made from food, isolated nutrients or food-like substances to augment health.
Nutraceuticals are a sector of dietary supplements made only from whole foods to augment health.
Can you tell the difference between a functional food, a dietary supplement and a nutraceutical? Most people are aware that what they eat affects their vitality and lifespan, but have no idea where the line between food and drugs really lies. As we’ve discovered, the definition of nutraceuticals vs supplements and functional foods overlap quite a bit, but each retains its own niche in the modern food industry.
Functional Foods
Walk through the supermarket and you’ll encounter a variety of foods that serve different purposes; e.g. apples for snacking or pie-filling, puffed rice cereal fortified with vitamins and minerals for breakfast, baby formula is for early childhood nutrition, gluten-free bread for those with dietary restrictions, and energy drinks for, well… energy.
The American Dietetic Association believes that all foods serve a function – e.g. to sustain life – but so-called functional foods “that include whole foods and fortified, enriched, or enhanced foods have a potentially beneficial effect on health when consumed as part of a varied diet on a regular basis, at effective levels.”
Our Products:
- Khadi Natural Herbs (with Box pack) 100gm: For healthy hair. For 100% genuine products order only at metromedi.com
- Organic Sonamasuri Rice White 1kg: Best quality organic sonamasouri rice. For 100% genuine products order only at metromedi.com.
- Organic Moong Dal Green Split 500g: Our Moong Dal Green Split gets cooked in a matter of moments as it doesn’t require earlier dousing. It is natural and effectively edible.
Dietary Supplements
As defined in the MetroMedi.com, a Dietary Supplement is “a product (other than tobacco) that is intended to supplement the diet, which contains one or more of the following dietary ingredients—a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance to supplement the diet by increasing the total daily intake, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combinations of these ingredients; is ingested in pill, capsule, tablet, or liquid form; is not represented for use as a conventional food or as the sole item of a meal or diet; and is labelled as a ‘dietary supplement.”
So, the playing field is wide for dietary supplements, which can be an isolated vitamin (like a capsule of Vitamin E), Sugar free natura powder, accu-chek active glucose strips 25s, fatty acid (like omega-3).
Our Products:
- MULTIVITE FM OMEGA 30S CAP: Diabetic Care multi vitamin E Capsules.
- Sugar Free Natura Powder: Sugar Free Gold is ideal for health conscious, overweight and diabetics and absolutely safe.
- Accu-Chek Active Glucose Strips 25s: Accu-Chek Active test strips are the most popular blood glucose test strips in India
Nutraceuticals
Under the umbrella of “dietary supplements,” nutraceuticals are any whole food – not an isolated nutrient or vitamin – that is concentrated and repackaged in a non-food format like a capsule. A good example might be garlic capsules (such as Puritan’s Pride Odorless Garlic), spinach (like Swanson Premium Full Spectrum Spinach Leaf) or beets (like Nature’s Way Beet Root). When ingested, each of these concentrated, whole botanicals has shown promise in promoting health and preventing disease. Brands that specialize in nutraceuticals include Oregon’s Eclectic Institute, Garden of Life’s Vitamin Code Raw line, and Standard Process.
Our Products:
- Nutrition – Vitamin C 60tabs-Nlife: Vitamin C may protect against immune system deficiencies
- Natural Forest Honey 340gms-Lifespan: Lifespan Forest honey is collected from the forests of Nallamalla (AP) and Nilgiris.
- Crunchy Pea Nut Butter with Honey 340gms-Lifespan: Peanuts with a touch of honey ground to perfection. Oil, sugar and preservative free.
