How Nutraceutical Supplements & Their Therapeutic Benefits Add Value to Life

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How Nutraceutical Supplements & Their Therapeutic Benefits Add Value to Life zimlab.in/blog/nutraceutical-supplements-their-therapeutic-benefits December 17, 2020

Today the whole world is aware of the various bioactive compounds, produced primarily from vegetative food sources, that can contribute either in their native or an appropriated concentrated form to heal the body. In the world of Medicine, they are known as Nutraceuticals.

What are Nutraceutical Supplements? The term “nutraceutical” was coined in 1989 by Stephen De Felice, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, an American organization that encourages medical health research. He defined a nutraceutical as a “food, or parts of a food, that provide medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease”. From being effective at cutting down tumour growth to the point of being used as supplements for inducing weight loss, the limit to the scope and effectiveness of these compounds is yet to be realized. No wonder, that the US dietary

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supplements market has seen steady growth over the past several years and is projected to witness a consistent growth rate for the next decade. Here’s a forecast made by grandviewresearch.com.

But what exactly makes these food supplements so effective at combating disease and common ailments? Nutraceuticals supplements that contain a high concentration of a particular substance derived from a natural source, such as a food or plant. They are pharmaceutical forms (pills, powders, capsules, vials, etc.) containing bioactive compounds in food as active principles. This naturally derived substance is concentrated in a way that has a physiological response in the body, usually to help prevent disease or help with chronic disease or improving health. Sometimes these may also be used in a synergistic combination with one another where each compound enhances the effectiveness of another while working toward getting the body into an optimal state or homeostasis — trying to get the body to regulate itself. Most importantly, this class of nutrient-pharmaceuticals either run a negligible or exceptionally low risk of having any side effects on the host, given that they work in conjunction with and to enhance the already existent biological pathways of the host rather than create an alternative one to combat the ailment. According to Dr. Leila Sahabi, a naturopathic doctor in North Vancouver, B.C.: Nutraceuticals work through various pathways in the body, and either provide a replacement for something that the body doesn’t produce on its own or add the necessary component for a cellular pathway to enhance its function. 2/4


Nutraceutical Supplements Therapeutic Benefits: A few commonly isolated bioactive classes of compounds that are commonly used for a variety of medicinal purposes are:

Flavonoids These are a class of bioactives found in a variety of fruits that protect against cardiovascular diseases.

Glucosinolates These are bioactive compounds found in brassica plants, especially crucifers such as broccoli. Studies have shown that diets high in these foods are associated with a reduced risk of cancer and improved vascular health.

Isoprenoids They are a class of plant natural products found in tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers that provide a rich source of high-value bioactives for human uses ranging from antibiotics, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory agents. Given our changing lifestyle patterns along with rapid urbanization, nutraceuticals are showing us the path forward in modern medicine – one that is not built upon a daily consumption of pills and capsules. This, in turn, will ensure long-term health benefits and a stronger immune system.

About ZIM Laboratories ZIM Labs is an innovative drug delivery solution provider focusing on improving patient convenience and adherence to drug intake. We offer a range of technology-based drug delivery solutions and non-infringing proprietary manufacturing processes for the production and supply of innovative and differentiated generic pharmaceutical products to our customers globally. At ZIM Labs we provide our customers a comprehensive range of value-added solid dosage differentiated generic products in semi-finished and finished categories/formulations. These include granules, pellets (sustained, modified, extended-release), taste-masked powders, suspensions, tablets, capsules, and recently developed Oral Thin Films (OTF).

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