The term food includes everything we eat, plus beverages like soft drinks, tea and coffee as well as confectionery items, to name a few.

Foods if they have been shown to have evident health benefits beyond the normal provision of nutrition are known as functional foods or medicinal foods. Importantly, functional or medicinal foods like BodyCare Nutrition’s Revitalise must comply with Australia’s food authority’s requirements relating to things like the level of vitamin and mineral fortification and the associated health benefits they offer you.

Requirements of functional foods

For example, a claim that a food ‘can cure heart disease’ would never be allowed. However, claims that suggest a functional or medicinal food might reduce the risk of a certain condition or contributes to the health of a certain aspect of your body are acceptable. But they still need to comply with strict regulations on their nutritional content. For example, if a food rich in Calcium presented the claim that this food ‘reduced the risk of osteoporosis’ it would have to contain a specified amount of Calcium per gram, in line with available scientific evidence indicating that this level of Calcium is in fact associated with a reduced Osteoporotic risk. As such, BodyCare Nutrition’s Revitalise contains the appropriate level of Calcium to help reduce the risk of Osteoporosis.

Why functional or medicinal foods can help with your nutrition

Many Australians have a poor diet. Most (93%) do not eat the recommended two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables every day. Some people have allergies that make them avoid certain nutritious foods like milk or seafood, others need to follow a gluten-free diet. For these people, functional foods may help overcome a nutritional deficiency. However, with a good understanding of food, it may be possible to make up for deficiencies relating to food avoidance, by substituting other nutrient-rich foods that can be tolerated. That said, functional or medicinal foods are a realistic option for you to consider.