NUTRACEUTICALS CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION MECHANISMS
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Nutraceuticals Chronic Disease Prevention Mechanisms
Nutraceuticals are food products, extracts, or food derivatives that include amino acids, herbs, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that have the potential to exhibit pharmaceutical benefits. They also add nutrients to the body. Additionally, they act as dietary food supplements or functional foods. From a nutritional point of view, they are a source of nutrients and on-nutrients. These nutrients include proteins, fats, vitamins, carbohydrates, and minerals. The non-nutrients are such as probiotics, fiber, prebiotics, and enzymatic regulators. Nutraceutical usage varies from country to country. Studies reveal that the larger parentage of nutraceutical consumers are female as compared to men. Compared to non-nutraceutical users, they are more likely to have a better-balanced diet.
Additionally, they have low chronic conditions. Moreover, their perceived affordability has dramatically increased its use. The more famous are vitamin and dietary supplements. A nutraceutical may help prevent chronic diseases. This essay shall examine the mechanism involved in the use of nutraceuticals in the prevention of chronic disease.
Chronic diseases include cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellites. Others are inflammatory type diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, chrons disease, and osteoarthritis are some of the lifelong illnesses that may impact the quality of someone’s life. The prevalence, together with their risk factors, is on a steady increase. Their associated risks include hypertension, hyperglycemia, and obesity. Typically, intervention measures for chronic disease involve a combination of dietary change and physical activity. It reduces risk factors. Additionally, pharmacological interventions play a critical role in treatment as the disease progresses. Some of these are nutraceuticals, which group in different categories. These include nutrients, dietary supplements, and herbals.
Bacteria nutraceuticals appear in products such as dairy products like cheese and yogurt. The bacteria, such as lactic acid, are used in industrial food fermentations. Examples include staphylococcus thermophilus and Lactococcus lactis. They fortify the products with nutrients such as folate by natural means without the need to use additional food supplements. Lactic acid bacteria excrete riboflavin into its surrounding. Additionally, probiotics that are live microbial food ingredients are friendly bacteria that promote digestion and the absorption of nutrients. They crowd pathogens such as yeast, viruses, and harmful bacteria that may cause diseases. They also exhibit antimicrobial effects by modifying the microflora, competing for nutrients necessary for pathogen survival and preventing adhesion of pathogens in the intestinal epithelium (Sharma, and Kumari, 2012,10). They produce antitoxin effects by reversing some of the consequences of infection on the intestinal epithelium. Moreover, they also lower blood cholesterol, enhance bowel functions, improve immune function, lower blood pressure, reduce inflammations, reduce infections, and prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. It thus deals with the risk factors that influence the occurrence of some chronic diseases.
Additionally, phytochemicals, which are bioactive non-nutrient components, are useful. They act as antioxidants, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory, antiestrogenic, and anticarcinogenic products. Also, they are present in fruits, grains, and vegetables. Some phytochemicals have amino acid thiamine, which reduces blood sugar and hypertension. They contain total plasma antioxidants, antiplatelet, and anti-inflammatory properties (Shahidi, 2012,228). They detoxify the blood, thus reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. Moreover, flavonoids have anti-cancerous properties. They act on cells by inhibiting the growth of cancerous cells. They also decrease oxidative and other DNA damage in humans. Flavonoids work by blocking the angiotensin-converting enzyme ACE, which raises blood pressure. By blocking cyclooxygenase used to breakdown prostaglandins, they prevent platelet stickiness, which prevents aggregation of platelets and blood-related complications. Additionally, they protect the vascular system through strengthening tiny capillaries which carry oxygen and vital nutrient. They also block enzymes that produce cancer-causing estrogens, plant-foods polyphenols suppress metabolic disorders and complications that cause type 2 diabetes.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids aids in treating and prevent coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis. They also suppress mental health disorders, depression, cancer, and schizophrenia. Omega 3 unsaturated fats decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines and eicosanoids. They possess immunomodulatory effects that reduce the prevalence of inflammatory diseases (Dahiya, 2013, 2). They include docosahexaenoic (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA). n-3 fatty acids have well established dietary components that affect plasma lipids and reduce the risk of major cardiovascular disorders. They produce essential structural elements of the brain, which contributes to improved brain functions search as attention and memory. They also enhance brain memory development, which reduces the severity of Alzheimer’s disease.
Many of the nutraceuticals contain antioxidant properties. Antioxidants act to diffuse free radicals, which lead to a limited risk of Oxidative stress (OS) and other associated disorders. They also inactivate Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in cellular and molecular levels. They inhibit the oxidative process through the process of interrupting radical chain reactions of lipid peroxidation. Moreover, ascorbates, carotenoids, and polyphenols are potent and active antioxidants. They possess free radical scavenging activity and exert synergistic actions in free scavenging radical actions. The antioxidant properties relieve the body of disease prevalence and risk factors for chronic diseases. Research shows that several chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, cataracts, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and CVS result from tissue deficiency dietary levels of antioxidant components (Gupta, Yadav, and Patil, 2013, 480). Oxidation results in the generation of free radicals that burn everything they come into contact with at a molecular level. Antioxidants inhibit this process by neutralizing the free radicals and the oxidants chain reactions that cause damaged membranes. Many chronic diseases carry oxidative stress pacts. High dietary antioxidant intake, therefore, prevents diseases by slowing or eliminating disease progression.
In conclusion, there is a great need to understand the importance of having nutraceutical as components of our diet. They vary in the mechanism. However, all have the overall effect of preventing the onset and the progression of chronic diseases. They act as agents for the maintenance of health by working against nutritionally induced acute and chronic conditions. They, therefore, promote longevity, optimal health, and quality of life. Also, the mechanistic actions of natural compounds found in nutraceuticals contain a wide range of biological processes. They include the activation of antioxidant defenses, cell proliferation, preservation of mitochondrial integrity, and cell survival associated gene expression. It plays a crucial role in the protection against pathogens that cause numerous chronic or age-related diseases.
References
Dahiya, K, 2013, ‘Nutraceuticals and Their Impact on Human Health,’ J Plant Biochem Physiol. Vol 1, no. 4, pp 1-3.
Gupta, S K, Yadav, S K, and Patil, S M, 2013, ‘Nutraceutical–A Bright Scope and Opportunity of Indian Healthcare Market,’ Intern J Res Develop Pharm Life Sci, vol 2, no.4, pp478-489.
Shahidi, F, 2012, ‘Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods, and Dietary Supplements in Health and Disease,’ J Food Drug Analysis, vol 20, no. 1, pp 226-230.
Sharma, R, and Kumari, M, 2012, ‘Bacterial Nutraceuticals-A Beneficial Health Supplement,’ Cibtech J Biotechnol, vol 1, no. 2-3, pp 3-17.