Food Can Do More Than Just Provide Basic Nutrition

A few years back, I remember listening to an individual on the Coast to Coast radio show with Art Bell calling for an end to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration .) At that time, I thought that was a very poor idea. Mainly because everyone would have a surefire diet for medical purposes.

Well guess what? It seems like the FDA has joined those ranks as well. As our understanding of how food relates to diet, disease, and wellness as evolved, the food and drug industry has also taken notice. They even refer to foods now as "functional foods." These are foods that even go beyond the basic importance of nutrition.

What kind of foods would fall into this category? Things like nuts, berries, oats,rice, and other whole grains. These are loaded with antioxidants, mono unsaturated fats and fiber as well as food that is loaded with vitamins and minerals. If you have noticed lately, the prices on these things have went up a good deal. As a matter of fact, some have even become hard to find. The high price for grains like rice and oats is going to be good for farmers.

When added to a balanced diet, a functional food can add to the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Two of the common ingredients in functional foods that you will be hearing more about is Plant sterols-stanols and probiotics. Plant sterols-stanols are naturally occurring plant molecules that resemble cholesterol. they compete with cholesterol for absorption into your body. This is good because they can block cholesterol build up in your body. This means less heart disease.

Food scientists have been able to find ways to strengthen them in the grains that you eat. Especially in butter foods like "Promise" and "Benecol." They have even improved it in chocolate bars and tortilla chips. Eating these can get your bad cholesterol to drop by 6 percent.

Probiotics are beneficial to your body in the human stomach. They attack bacteria. In some cases this good while in other cases it is bad. Bacteria is necessary in your stomach. However, there is also some bacteria that is bad. Good bacteria can help boost the human immune system. One food that contains this good bacteria is yogurt.