Use functional foods properly
There are many types of functional foods on the market today and many people use functional foods to prevent and treat diseases. So, do functional foods have the same therapeutic effects as medicine?
Today, we will meet with Associate Professor, Doctor Tran Dang, President of the Vietnam Functional Food Association, to discuss this issue.
PV: We often talk about functional foods, so what are functional foods, sir?
Assoc.Prof.Dr.: Functional foods, as we know, are made from food, so they are food and a special type of food. They are used to support the functions of organs in the body, increase resistance, create a comfortable state for the body and reduce the risk and harm of disease. The characteristics of functional foods, as we know, are not medicines but food products. Therefore, they must be passed through the digestive tract, must be eaten regularly, the portion of functional foods is very small but the content is the physiological content of the body. Although they are packaged in very small tablets, the content provided to the body is enough for the physiological needs of the human body. Fourthly, the characteristic of functional foods is that they are produced according to a formula, they can eliminate toxic substances. Fifthly, functional foods are very popular in the market at pharmacies, any consumer can easily buy them for use. In addition, the characteristics of functional foods in terms of structure are not the same as drugs. It is a suspension, extracted and separated but not synthesized. It is completely natural so it has few side effects.
Currently, the identification of functional foods is still unclear, so it is easy to misunderstand consumers. Medicines and functional foods are completely different, functional foods cannot be considered as medicine. Functional foods are products used to support the functions of body parts, with or without nutritional effects, creating a comfortable body condition, increasing resistance, reducing the risk of disease.
Medicine is a substance or mixture of substances used by humans for the purpose of disease prevention, treatment, diagnosis or treatment of physiological functions of the body.
Functional foods are declared on the manufacturer's label as functional foods, supporting treatment. And drugs are declared on the manufacturer's label as treatment drugs.
How to distinguish specifically see here
