Top Functional Foods That Naturally Boost Performance & Energy

It was in the 1980s that the Japanese government established a legal definition of a group of foods termed as "Functional Foods", and these were termed as possessing health benefits over and above the usual nutritional functions afforded by food.

What Are Functional Foods?

In effect, food gives your body the nutrients necessary for sustaining life. However, some foods contain components that can boost your systems to achieve more than normal function and derive health benefits. Those foods are referred to as Functional food. They are also known as performance foods, superfoods, or fortified foods. Juices or cereals with added vitamins, probiotics, and nutraceuticals, among others, are examples of functional foods.

Functional foods do not necessarily have to occur naturally with beneficial compounds; they can be naturally occurring or added at the manufacturing process. 'Functional foods' also includes the foods from which a possibly dangerous component has been eliminated, e.g., gluten-free and sugar-free foods.

Functional foods, such as immunity-boosting foods, protein foods, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods, probiotics, dietary supplements, and nutraceuticals, etc., are some of the functional foods. The concept of food being utilized to enhance the health condition of people began in the 1980s when the Japanese food safety authority established individual regulations for such food items.

Legal Regulation of Functional Foods

Japan: The Japanese government categorizes functional foods as FOSHU(2)– Foods for Specified Health Use. They are food products that have ingredients imparting the food health-improvement characteristics, provided that the statement is supported by scientific nutrition studies(3).

India: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) call functional foods 'foods for special dietary uses', nutraceuticals, or health supplements.(4)FSSAI says some functional foods are:

Plants or botanicals, or plant parts, in powder or as water or ethyl alcohol or hydroalcoholic extract;

Vitamins, minerals, metals, proteins, or their salts, or amino acids, or enzymes (allowed within the recommended Indian population daily allowance);

Animal origin product;

Dietary supplements in the form of powders, granules, tablets, capsules, liquids, jelly, and other dosage forms but not parenterals (i.e., administered in someplace excluding the mouth and alimentary canal), and are meant for oral administration.

Note: Products that claim to cure or mitigate any particular disease or condition are not considered as Functional Foods, per the FSSAI.

U.S.A: There isn't a clear legal definition of functional foods for the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), but regulates use and sale of functional labels claiming to be functional. It is the consumers' responsibility to assess whether what they purchase is efficient or not.

Functional foods can be the prime source of nutrients for others. Some nutrients such as Vitamin D or Iodine aren't found naturally in most foods, and most people turn to enriched foods like milk supplemented with Vitamin D or Iodized salt to obtain their daily requirement. Such circumstances justify the use of supplements, as it's hard to achieve your daily needs from food alone, and enriched foods are not the ideal choice. Particularly if foods themselves might not be as bioavailable in their nutrient content. This article offers a good summary of reasons why supplements and nutraceuticals might be a more convenient choice.

Utilizing Functional Foods

Once you’ve understood what functional foods are and how they work, optimising your performance and energy comes down to the simple matter of using the right functional foods. Different functional foods serve different purposes; some can be used to aid fat loss, while others could help to bulk up. Some could help with specific system improvements such as gut-friendly or liver-friendly foods, while others can have overall health benefits.

To maximize energy and performance, foods that are high in the nutrients that will help do that are the best choice. Some of the ideal nutrients for energy are:

• Magnesium

• Protein

• B-Complex

• Vitamin D3

• Omega-3 Fatty Acids

• Co-Q10

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