are you ready to function?

By Fiona Kirk

We’re talking ‘Functional Foods’ this month.  What are they?  Where are they?  Are they the ‘magic bullet’ we are all looking for?

Let’s fast-forward to 2030.  How different might our ‘daily diet’ look and taste.  But more importantly, how much better might it be for us, could it be saturated in hitherto unimagined health benefits?

Current science would answer a resounding ‘yes’.  It’s the new ‘fast food’ for sure!  We are already beginning to understand and recognise the ‘antioxidant’ benefits of foods like dark chocolate and red wine which until fairly recently were destined for the ‘sin bin’ but recently have appeared on the recommended list of foods in every ‘healthy’ diet (in moderation of course!)  Why would you want to dip your ‘soldiers’ into any old battery hen egg when for a couple of extra pence you could have an egg produced by a bird fed on omega 3-rich seeds providing you with all the health benefits of those fabulous essential fats (sharper brain, better skin, hair, nails etc)? 

Bacteria

And then there are all those ‘probiotics’ (known to improve your digestion and fight off those ‘evil’ bacteria which threaten your ‘gut’ and your general health) which are now a common addition to a host of dairy products.  I have to ‘rant’ at this point about the amount of sugar in some of these products – ‘bad/evil’ bacteria just LOVE sugar so just occasionally ask yourself whether the ‘bad guys’ are feeding off the sugar and creating digestive havoc or whether the ‘good guys’ are getting the sort of reinforcement to stay in charge!  I’m more of a fan of a bowl of natural live yoghurt a few times a week with a ton of berries and some toasted flaked almonds for crunch (providing me with a barrel-load of ‘good’ bacteria to boot!)

Fortification!

Cereals fortified with vitamins, fruit juices with added extras, breads with ‘women-friendly’ nutrients and calcium-boosted milk have been around for a long time (in all too many cases sadly, the nutrients were lost in the production, necessitating the addition!)  But, what about some of the ‘new kids on the block’?  Selenium-enriched potatoes, the ever-increasing selection of butter substitutes enhanced with cholesterol- lowering sterols, tomatoes with added lycopene and my new favourites ………….. Diet Coke with added health-giving antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and Hula Hoops with added fibre …… oh please!!

All natural

As a nutritional therapist, I am naturally an advocate (possibly even an obsessive!) of the health-giving properties of good, fresh, wholesome food with all the essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals, ‘good’ fats, probiotics and fibre they provide and if it’s a choice between a diet of ‘McDonalds’ and all its sugary, salty, fatty relations and the ‘functional foods’ the scientists are coming up with daily in an endeavour to enrich and enhance our health, they definitely get my vote (well, some of them!)

But, and it’s a very big BUT, enriching and enhancing foods that were nutritionally-challenged to start with just doesn’t ‘cut it’.  Why not just buy the best quality, fresh and natural foods and be done with it?  Well, sadly that’s not 21st century behaviour is it!  So, even nutritional therapists have to ‘get with the programme’ and embrace the new technology!
A food can be said to be "functional" if it meets one of the following criteria:-

1. It contains a food component (being a nutrient or not) which affects one or a limited number of functions in the body in a targeted way so as to have positive effects
2. It has physiological or psychological effect beyond the traditional nutritional effect
3. Collectively, a functional food should have a relevant effect on well-being and health or result in a reduction in disease risk
4. The component that makes the food "functional" can be either an essential macronutrient if it has specific physiologic effects (such as resistant starch or omega 3 fatty acids) or an essential micronutrient if its intake is over and above the daily recommendations. Additionally, it could be a food component even though some of its nutritive value is not listed as “essential”

That’s the scientific ‘speak’ – make any sense?

Probably not, but today industrialised countries are facing big challenges.  They have to try and control the cost of health care, there is pressure to offer their ageing population a real opportunity to live not only longer, but better lives AND more and more “busy” consumers are looking for an increased choice of healthy processed and ready-to-eat foods.
HEALTHY is what we all want and the ‘science’ of functional foods has to figure in the future, surely?  But I think we all have to be diligent and increasingly aware.  Understanding what ‘fuel’ our bodies need to thrive (and which foods and combinations of foods provide them) should be a quest not a chore.  Or should we just believe what we read on the packet?  That sounds like a ‘cop out’ to me!

Milkshake

I recently came across a milkshake being developed in Germany which is going to be tailored to individual requirements!  It involves a vending machine, a gullible customer and a set of questions. You key in your answers to about 20 questions on a range of topics (age, sex, height, weight, medical conditions etc.) and an appropriate cocktail of vitamins, minerals, pre- and probiotics will be mixed into your milkshake!  It’s enterprising, it’s fun and will probably be a huge ‘hit’ but gives just the slightest indication of how gullible food manufacturers think (no, makethat KNOW) we really are!  And yes! Of course it’s going to cost more than the original milkshake which already provides a good range of nutrients (if made with good quality milk rich in calcium and fresh fruit rich in vitamin C and fibre).  Cynically, I have to suggest that it is more likely to be made with over-processed milk from over-hormonally fed cows with seriously sugary fruit syrups SO ……. are they plotting to put some of the lost nutrients back in or are they just having fun and if so, why not?  But, don’t market it as a health-giving opportunity!  It’s called ‘POSIFood’ by the way and could be in a ‘mall’ near you within the next couple of years!

Conclusion? 

Why not buy into the technology and embrace foods that have undergone exhaustive research to uncover their health-giving benefits and may possibly extend the life of other foods that have hitherto perished soon after ‘harvest’.  It’s the future and it sounds like a lot more fun than getting your daily nourishment in ‘pill-form’ as was suggested in the 1960’s.  BUT, please don’t believe everything you read on the packet.  The marketing guys have to make a living too, remember.   Become a detective, read and learn more about what kind of ‘fuel’ works for you and flirt with the ‘new’, the ‘exotic’ and the ‘exciting’ that form the basis of ‘functional’ foods.