Review on nutraceuticals & its role in ailments of various diseases

Abstract

Nutraceuticals have received considerable interest because of their presumed safety and potential nutritional and therapeutic effects. ‘Nutraceutical’ is used to describe a medicinal or nutritional component that includes a food, plant or naturally occurring material, which may have been purified or concentrated, and that is used for the improvement of health, by preventing or treating a disease. In recent years there is a growing interest in nutraceuticals which provide health benefits and are alternative to modern medicine. By using nutraceuticals, it may be possible to reduce or eliminate the need for conventional medications, reducing the chances of any adverse effect. The food products used as nutraceuticals can be categorized as dietary fibre, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and other different types of herbal natural foods. These nutraceuticals used in various diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, cholesterol etc. In whole, nutraceutical‟ has lead to the new era of medicine and health, in which the food industry has become a research oriented sector.