nutraceuticals
plural noun; health, nutrition and marketing

- Foods, fortified foods or supplements claimed to provide benefits beyond basic nutrition

- Foodstuffs, additives or supplements with beneficial physiological effects but not essential to the diet

- Functional foods or substances in food used in healthcare

Merriam-Webster, Oxford English Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

American physician Stephen L. DeFelice coined nutraceutical in 1989. The English blend joins nutrition or nutrient with pharmaceutical: one half belongs in the kitchen, the other in the dispensary. He applied it broadly to foods or parts of foods associated with medical or health benefits.

The plural nutraceuticals soon spread through health research and marketing. Its boundaries, however, never settled. Depending on the speaker, it may cover functional foods, dietary supplements, isolated food compounds or all three. There is still no internationally recognised definition, and the term itself generally has no separate legal status. Its vagueness is therefore rather apt: the word straddles the same border between food and medicine as the products it names. 

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WHEN FOOD ACTS LIKE MEDICINE

A jar of red yeast rice capsules can look like food-based wellness. Chemically, however, some capsules may contain the same active substance as a prescription medicine.

Red yeast rice is made by fermenting rice with a mould. This can produce monacolin K, which is structurally identical to lovastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug. That identity isn’t metaphorical: the molecules are the same. What varies is the dose. A 2017 analysis examined 28 American brands. None stated its monacolin K content. Two contained none that could be detected; among the other 26, the amount per 1,200 milligrams of red yeast rice varied more than sixtyfold.

If enough monacolin K is present, it may lower cholesterol—but it can also produce the same kinds of side effects and drug interactions as lovastatin. The US Food and Drug Administration says red yeast rice products with enhanced or added lovastatin cannot be marketed lawfully as dietary supplements.

This is the awkward frontier suggested by nutraceuticals. A substance doesn’t become gentle because it came from a plant, fungus or food tradition. Nor does a capsule become ineffective because it’s sold beside vitamins rather than behind a pharmacy counter.

The label tells you the category; the molecule tells your body what happens.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

dietary supplements, functional foods, NUTRACEUTICALS

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Before buying those NUTRACEUTICALS, I’d like to know what evidence supports the claims.”

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