“The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well.” – Hippocrates
Born in 460 BCE, Hippocrates, the Greek physician known as the “Father of Medicine,” understood the self-healing power of the human body. Thousands of years later, discoveries in health and wellness continue to make incredible strides forward. Human lifespans are longer than ever, and contagious diseases are at their lowest level in history.
However, other diseases are rising, including cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart, lung, and kidney disease. Poor diets contribute to many of these conditions. Living a healthy lifestyle with a a nutritious diet and plenty of exercise can help you thrive for years to come.. And the addition of nutraceuticals can help bridge nutritional gaps in your diet.
What are nutraceuticals?
Nutraceuticals are food-derived supplements that provide additional health benefits beyond the nutritional content of the original food. Food nutrients are extracted, concentrated, and transformed into supplements containing vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, plant-based phytochemicals, and other beneficial compounds.
Nutraceutical products are exploding in popularity as more and more people discover how naturally derived supplements can help them maintain their health and reach their peak state.
Examples of nutraceuticals
Nutraceutical supplements come in many forms, including medical, functional, and fortified foods, but powders and capsules are their most common sale format. Here are some of the best nutraceuticals.
- Vitamins D and K
- Activated methylating B-vitamins
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Magnesium
- Carotenoids
- Choline
- Creatine
- Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)
- Sesame seed oil extract
- Anthocyanins found in blueberries, grapes, and aronia berries
- Dietary enzymes
- Phytonutrients
- Herbal products like garlic, turmeric, and echinacea
How do nutraceuticals work?
Nutraceutical supplements are concentrated foods, or parts of foods, that absorb into your body the same way as whole foods. Your body metabolizes the product, extracts the nutrients, and sends them throughout your body to work on improving your health.
A healthy diet is essential to your energy and vitality, even if you take nutraceuticals. However, due to their concentrated form, nutraceuticals are more powerful than whole foods alone – they can supplement your diet, promote health and help prevent disease and aging.
Benefits of nutraceutical products
Your body is a finely-tuned piece of machinery fueled by the food and substances you ingest. When you feed your body acidic foods, caffeine, and alcohol, your body has to waste energy filtering out all the bad things, leaving you tired and run down. Nutraceuticals offer numerous health benefits, and when you ingest the right amount of beneficial nutrients, your body will absorb all the good stuff and leave you feeling energetic and alive.
Heart health
The typical Western diet contains many inflammation-promoting ingredients like omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, sugars, refined grains, red meat, and dairy products – and these often result in chronic inflammatory diseases. According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, causing 1 in every 5 deaths. Studies show that many nutraceuticals improve heart health, including omega-3 fatty acids, carotenoids, micronutrients, vitamin C, vitamin E, and magnesium.
Muscle health
Muscle health isn’t just for bodybuilders and athletes; it’s essential to everything we do, including metabolism and circulation. Muscle health becomes even more health-critical as we age and the body undergoes sarcopenia – the weakening and withering of our muscles. No one wants that, so it’s a good thing nutraceuticals like carnitine, creatine, leucine, nitrates, vitamin D, and magnesium help to promote muscle mass and exercise performance.
Bone health
Did your parents tell you that drinking milk improves growth and bone strength? Well, they were right! Milk contains calcium, a well-known building block of the bones, and vitamin D is another common bone supplement used to prevent and treat osteoporosis and bone loss. With scientific advances, a more comprehensive selection of bone health-promoting nutraceuticals are now available. For example, Magnesium helps to increase bone density and decrease fracture risk, and vitamins D and K together can stimulate more bone mineralization than vitamin D alone.
Brain health
The brain may only weigh about three pounds, but it contains billions of neurons and controls everything you do, including sensing, moving, feeling, thinking, and acting. When you control your mindset, you control your emotions and behaviors, and when your brain isn’t in its peak state, the rest of your body – and your life – will feel the impact. Nutraceuticals have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, including:
- Magnesium – plays a crucial role in nerve transmission.
- Riboflavin – reduces oxidative stress and nerve inflammation and:
- B vitamins – promotes the development of neurotransmitters.
Immunity
Your heart, muscles, and brain keep you going, but boosting your immune system is the key to enjoying life. When you’re always sick, tired, or run-down, you can’t play with your children or grandchildren, go on new adventures with your partner or make the memories that make life worth living. Through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, nutraceuticals like minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, and vitamins B12, C, D, and K, can help to increase immunity.
Aging and longevity
Whether you engage in bad habits like drinking and smoking or don’t exercise regularly, your lifestyle may contribute to premature aging. Even if you do everything right, oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular senescence (when cells die off but remain in the body) affect us all. Tony believes in extending the lifespan (the total number of years you live) and the healthspan – the number of healthy, vital, joy-filled years you can still enjoy. Nutraceuticals like probiotic bacteria, phytochemicals, and omega-3 fatty acids can mitigate the effects of aging, while others derived from plant extracts show promise in reducing oxidative damage.
Achieve your peak state with nutraceuticals
Reaching your peak state is a holistic endeavor. You need emotional, mental, and spiritual health to live your best life, but it all starts with physical health. Regular aerobic exercise and feeding your body the right fuel affect all aspects of your life, including energy, vitality, mood, memory, and how you think, feel, act, and manage stress.Your physical health is the foundation you build for the rest of your life. Whichever nutraceutical products you choose, enhance their impact and extend your healthspan with a holistic strategy encompassing exercise, healthy eating, restful sleep, and mindfulness practices. Ultimately, the answer to “What are nutraceuticals?” is simple – they’re another tool in your health and vitality toolkit, and it’s up to you to maximize their positive impact.