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Feeding functional foods effectively
from Curiosity Issue 6
by Curiosity
Nutraceuticals are nutritionally enhanced food but the way in which we consume them could compromise their efficacy.
by Deborah Minors
The Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) in the Department of Pharmacy researches innovative ways for us to consume and ingest the medicines – or nutraceuticals – that we need.
Nutraceuticals are medicinally or nutritionally enhanced ‘functional foods’. They include everyday products such as yoghurt and fortified breakfast cereals, or more advanced ‘designer’ foods that improve a food’s health benefits and prevent or treat diseases.
Lauren Mulligan
Delivering nutraceuticals to the body is a complex process. These naturally derived molecules must be adequately protected, remain viable and, where necessary, absorb effectively to deliver health benefits.
The WADDP team use innovative biomaterials to develop formulations that enhance the delivery of nutraceuticals to the body. Biomaterials are any substance engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose.
“We developed a unique tablet that one takes orally, which uses the body's own digestive enzymes to absorb Vitamin D3 effectively,” says Professor Viness Pillay, Director of the WADDP, who, with Professor Yahya Choonara and Dr Pradeep Kumar co-authored a paper published in the Journal of Functional Foods in 2014.
The WADDP is now researching new ways to deliver gut microbes, which have proven effective for gut health and preventing or treating obesity. Studies show that gut microbes (microorganisms that live in the digestive tract) are linked to obesity risk and related metabolic disorders.
The WADDP’s nutraceutical formulations can manipulate gut microbes to facilitate weight loss or prevent obesity in humans. This work is undertaken by two Postdoctoral students within the team – Dr Mershen Govender and Dr Sunaina Indermun.
