Nutraceuticals – Nutritional Supplements for the 21st Century
Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine.” Over the past several decades, nutritional supplementation has developed as a new and exciting part of the health industry. Even though modern nutraceuticals began to develop in the 1980’s, nutraceuticals have been around for thousands of years. Such cultures as Indian, Egyptian, Chinese, Sumerian and Ayurvedic suggest that foods can be used as medicine to prevent and treat disease. Nutraceuticals have been become an $86 billion industry that is constantly growing. About 2/3 of Americans take at least 1 type of nutraceutical. With the increase in our populations focus on health and wellness, the focus has shifted from pharmaceuticals to nutraceuticals. Americans actually prefer nutraceuticals because they are effective without the extensive side effects that pharmaceutical drugs provide.
