Nutraceutical

Nutraceutical, a portmanteau of the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical”, is a food or food product that reportedly provides health and medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. 

Health Canada defines the term as:

"a product isolated or purified from foods that is generally sold in medicinal forms not usually associated with food. A nutraceutical is demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease."

Nutraceutical products

Antioxidant

An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When the chain reaction occurs in a cell, it can cause damage or death to the cell. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions. They do this by being oxidized themselves, so antioxidants are often reducing agents such as thiols, ascorbic acid, or polyphenols.

Moreover, oxidative stress is both the cause and the consequence of disease.

Functional food

Functional food is a food where a new ingredient(s) (or more of an existing ingredient) has been added to a food and the new product has a new function (often one related to health-promotion or disease prevention). The general category of functional foods includes processed food or foods fortified with health-promoting additives, like "vitamin-enriched" products. 

Lycopene from tomato

 

Apa itu antioksidan..?

Antioksidan merupakan bahan kimia yang diperlukan tubuh untuk meneutralkan radikal bebas dan mencegah kerosakan yang ditimbulkan oleh radikal bebas terhadap sel normal, protein, dan lemak.

Model pengisian ruang antioksidan (glutation). Bola kuning merupakan atom sulfur yang memberikan kesan aktiviti antioksidan, manakala bola merah, biru, putih, dan kelabu mewakili atom oksigen, nitrogen, hidrogen, dan karbon secara berturutan.