Establishing health benefits of bioactive food components: a basic research scientist's perspective

Rumana Yasmeen; Naomi K Fukagawa; Thomas Ty Wang

doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2016.11.016

Establishing health benefits of bioactive food components: a basic research scientist's perspective

Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2017 Apr:44:109-114. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2016.11.016. Epub 2017 Jan 2.

Authors

Rumana Yasmeen¹, Naomi K Fukagawa¹, Thomas Ty Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Diet, Genomics and Immunology Lab, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, ARS, USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
² Diet, Genomics and Immunology Lab, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, ARS, USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. Electronic address: Tom.Wang@ars.usda.gov.

PMID: 28056363
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2016.11.016

Abstract

Bioactive food components or functional foods have recently received significant attention because of their widely touted positive effects on health beyond basic nutrition. However, a question continues to lurk: are these claims for 'super foods' backed by sound science or simply an exaggerated portrayal of very small 'benefits'? Efforts to establish health benefits by scientific means pose a real challenge in regards to defining what those benefits are, as well as how effective the foods are in justifying any health claim. This review discusses the pitfalls associated with the execution, interpretation, extrapolation of the results to humans and the challenges encountered in the dietary research arena from a basic scientist's perspective.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Biomedical Research*
Dietary Supplements*
Functional Food*
Health Promotion / methods*
Humans