The Science of Health-Promoting Food Products: A Current Panoramic View

In response to an ever increasing social awareness of the relationship between food consumption and health, the foodstuffs industry has begun to commercialise food products that may be considered as healthy. The considerations involved in the manufacture of this product category have led to the development of a new branch of Bromatology, known as the Science of health-promoting foods, whose essential objectives, based on scientific principles, are as follows: the identification of food compounds that are capable of producing health benefits; the determination of the mechanisms involved in producing such effects; the optimisation of technologies that are capable of giving a commercial form to newly established formulations; etc. Over the last ten years, there has been a proliferation of scientific publications on the health giving properties of some functional fatty acids, nutritional antioxidants, lignans, stilbenes, phytoesterols, stanols, beta-glucans, powdered cellulose, blueberries and L-carnitin. These substances have been related to the possible prevention of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, malignant tumours, nervous system alterations, obesity, immune system dysfunction and human behaviour. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this new science, contributions from other disciplines involved in human nutrition, such as Biochemistry, Food Technology and Modern Genetics, are required. In accordance with the techniques inherent to functional genomics, nutritional Genomics may play a key role in the better understanding of both the beneficial and detrimental effects of food consumption in human health. In practice, it is believed that new developments in genetic knowledge may elucidate upon the genetic factors that are related to the ethiology of diseases associated with diet. Furthermore, on the basis of such knowledge, the possibilty of establishing personal dietary recommendations with a personalised choice of foods could be contemplated.