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Definition:
Any food claimed to have a positive impact on your health,
physical performance or state of mind IN ADDITION to its
nutritive value. Also called 'designer foods', 'nutraceuticals'
and 'pharmafoods'
Risks:
Added substance not been adequately tested(safety)
The claimed benefit may be based on little or no evidence
Only a trivial amount of beneficial ingredient is added
Some may replace healthy foods (fruit/vegies) with drinks/chips
enriched with 'health-promoting' ingredient. Fruit/Veg
are a cocktail of healthy compounds, functional foods
usually offer one or two.
Examples
of Functional Foods:
The first functional foods were foods fortified with extra
vitamins/minerals to help treat deficiency such as:
Iodine added to salt (goitre)
Vit D in margarine (rickets)
Folate in bread/cereal (birth defects)
Other
examples
Live bacteria in yoghurt (health benefits??)
Isoflavone-enriched bread/cereals (?protect against
heart disease, breast cancer, menopausal symptoms)
Omega 3 fats in eggs and margarine (?protect against
heart disease, reduce effects of arthritis)
Hi-maize, a resistant starch, in bread,cereal, pasta
(?protect against bowel cancer)
Phytosterols in margarine (reduce blood cholesterol)
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Healthy Eating Club Courses 
