title: The role of functional foods, nutraceuticals, and food supplements in intestinal health.
abstract: New eating habits, actual trends in production and consumption have a health, environmental and social impact. The European Union is fighting diseases characteristic of a modern age, such as obesity, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, allergies and dental problems. Developed countries are also faced with problems relating to aging populations, high energy foods, and unbalanced diets. The potential of nutraceuticals/functional foods/food supplements in mitigating health problems, especially in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, is discussed. Certain members of gut microflora (e.g., probiotic/protective strains) play a role in the host health due to its involvement in nutritional, immunologic and physiological functions. The potential mechanisms by which nutraceuticals/functional foods/food supplements may alter a host's health are also highlighted in this paper. The establishment of novel functional cell models of the GI and analytical tools that allow tests in controlled experiments are highly desired for gut research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Biotechnology, University of Maribor, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Pivola 10, 2311 Hoče, Slovenia. avrelija.cencic@uni-mb.si
authors.forename: Avrelija
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cencic
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chingwaru
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000378:metabolism; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D058870:Food, Organic; D055951:Functional Food; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism