Forget the pharmacy. Nowadays you can curb depression with soup
containing St. Johns wort, boost brain power with cereal containing
ginkgo and lower cholesterol with cookies containing psyllium. Or
so say the ads.
Welcome to the world of functional foods -- products that claim a
health benefit because of something that's been added to them. So
hot is this trend that last year, one out of every 10 new food
products was a functional food.
The claims made about these foods are scintillating. But are
they too good to be true?
There's a strong chance that some of these new functional foods
can make a healthy difference in your life. But many others have
little science behind their fancy names and high prices. Some could
even be harmful.
To help you sift health from hype, keep these five questions in
mind:
+ Does This Stuff Work?
There's a wealth of evidence supporting the health benefits of
some additives, such as calcium to prevent bone loss, folic acid
(added by law to refined grains) to prevent birth defects and
omega-3 fats to prevent heart disease.
But what about products such as Golden Temple Vanilla Almond
Crisp Cereal with Ginkgo and Gotu Kola for ``brainpower''? ``The
research on many of the herbs added to functional foods is sketchy
or only useful for people with serious health conditions. There's
no good evidence that ginkgo helps healthy people with routine
forgetfulness,'' says David G. Schardt, nutritionist with the
Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C.
+ If a functional food does contain beneficial ingredients, does
it supply enough to do the job?
Foods fortified with vitamins or minerals, such as orange juice
with added calcium, must list amounts on the labels. But with herbs
and phytochemicals, there's no regulation.
``Often were not told how much is in the food, and even the
manufacturer doesn't know,'' says Varro E. Tyler, an international
herb authority. Hansen's Natural Energy Fruit Juice Smoothie claims
that its ginseng will ``jump-start your day,'' but doesn't say how
much ginseng is present.
``There's likely not enough of any herb in many of these
products to do anything. Its just a marketing gimmick,'' Schardt
says.
Even when an herbal dose is given, how do you know if its enough
to work? Hain's Creamy Split Pea Soup with St. Johns Wort states
that a serving contains 98 milligrams of the herb.
``Nowhere on the label does it mention that studies show that
people need 10 to 20 times that dose daily for weeks. And even
then, this herb is only effective half the time, and so far only
for people with mild to moderate depression,'' Schardt says. Before
you use functional foods with herbs, do some research.
Other times, the dose is overkill. Kellogg's Special K Plus
Cereal has 600 milligrams of calcium per serving. Combine that with
a cup of milk and you're getting 900 milligrams of total calcium --
almost 100 percent of your daily needs. Too bad that nearly half of
that will be wasted, since experts say that your absorption of
calcium at one time becomes minimal over 500 milligrams.
+ Is It Safe?
Untested levels or combinations of phytochemicals and herbs
could be unwise.
``Adding things haphazardly into foods could produce any number
of potential toxic effects,'' warns Winston Craig, chairman of
nutrition at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich.
Herbs can interact with other medications. St. Johns wort should
not be taken with anti-depressant drugs, kava might interact with
anti-anxiety medications, and echinacea, in very rare cases,
produces allergic reactions in some people.
``Scientifically, herbs are drugs,'' Tyler says, ``so to add
them to processed foods makes as much sense as adding aspirin to
soup or diazepam to potato chips.'' And if a functional food is
harming your health, how will you know?
``It's relatively easy to identify harmful side effects from
drugs, but how will we make the connection between symptoms such as
heart palpitations or headaches and a varied diet that contains a
functional food?'' asks Cyndi Thomson, an American Dietetic
Association spokesperson on functional foods.
If you want to take herbs, Tyler's advice is to take them as
separate supplements, so that you know how much you're getting.
+ Is It Fortified Junk Food?
All too often, functional foods are nothing more than highly
processed junk foods that are fortified with a handful of nutrients
to create the impression that the food is wholesome. Here are a
couple of examples:
The two main ingredients in most functional beverages are water
and sugar, from Snapple's Fire drink with ginseng, guarana and
ginkgo to Procter & Gambles Sunny Delight with Calcium.
The Rice Snackles snack bar from BodyLogic hypes its flaxseed,
but the main ingredient is ``marshmallow fluff.''
Steer clear of ``dysfunctional'' foods such as these, and focus
on functional foods that start out as healthy, wholesome fare
before anything else is added to them.
+ Can I Get It Cheaper?
Most functional foods are expensive. So if you have your heart
set on taking St. Johns wort, flaxseed, or some other health food,
buy it straight.
For example, Knudsen's Simply Nutritious Ginkgo Alert drink
costs $2.15 a day for the recommended herbal dose of 120
milligrams. But you can buy Solaray Ginkgo Biloba supplements and
get the same standardized dose for 51 cents a day.
A Clif Bar supplies your daily vitamin C needs for about $1 a
day, but a glass of orange juice does the same thing for about 20
cents or less.
+ What makes a functional food worth your while?
There are three criteria: First, it should start out healthy,
before anything is added to it. Second, it should contain an extra
substance that many of us, as shown in studies, need more of or
that clearly has a health benefit to you. The amount of the
substance should be specified. Finally, it should be an easy food
to add to your diet on a regular basis.
But even a truckload of healthy functional foods can't make up
for a bad diet, smoking or lack of exercise. Start with a superdiet
of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans and consider some
smart functional foods for a little extra insurance.
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SIDEBAR: FOUR FUNCTIONAL FOODS WORTH A TRY
+ Omega-3-enriched eggs (various brands)
Functional ingredient: Omega-3 fats, a result of feeding hens
flaxseed meal, fish meal or marine algae
Dose: Varies according to product. Choice Eggs contain 350
milligrams of omega-3 fats per egg.
Nutritional edge: Heart protection and improved mood. Why not
get some heart-smart omega-3s in every egg? Worried about
cholesterol? Most healthy people can eat up to seven eggs a week.
People with diabetes or high cholesterol can eat up to four eggs a
week.
+ Benecol salad dressings and margarine
Functional ingredient: Plant stanol esters, which lower blood
cholesterol by blocking absorption of cholesterol in the diet
Dose: Three servings a day, one each with breakfast, lunch and
dinner. (One serving of margarine is 1 1/2 teaspoons. One serving
of salad dressing is two tablespoons.)
Nutritional edge: Lower cholesterol. The recommended dose has
been shown to lower high levels of bad LDL cholesterol an average
of 14 percent. If you already use salad dressing or margarine, and
you have high cholesterol, give these a try. Dressings come in
ranch, creamy Italian, Thousand Island and French-style. Margarine
comes in regular or reduced-fat.
+ Millina's Healthy Kitchen Organic Pasta Sauces with Omega-3
Functional ingredient: Omega-3 fats from fish oil, deodorized to
remove the fishy taste
Dose: Each 1/2-cup serving supplies 0.6 gram of the powerful
omega-3 fats in fish (as much as 3.5 ounces of rainbow trout).
Nutritional edge: Protection from fatal heart attack. In many
studies, eating fish about twice a week is linked to fewer deaths
from heart attack. If you can't stomach fish, here's a super
alternative. Comes in marinara, tomato garlic and tomato basil
varieties.
+ Aquacuisine Lemon and Herb Salmon Burgers
Functional ingredient: Omega-3 fats from fish oil, which have
been deodorized to remove the fishy taste, are added to naturally
omega-3-rich salmon.
Dose: One gram of fish oil omega-3s per burger. It is
recommended that you average at least 0.5 gram of fish oil omega-3s
a day to reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack.
Nutritional edge: Prevention from fatal heart attack. In a
recent Italian study, heart patients who got 1 gram of fish oil
omega-3s per day suffered about half the number of fatal heart
attacks as patients who didn't get omega-3s. Also available:
Aquacuisine Salmon Franks with 0.5 gram of omega-3s (and only 60
calories each).
