A GENERAL REVIEW ON NUTRACEUTICALS: ITS GOLDEN HEALTH IMPACT OVER HUMAN COMMUNITY

Nutraceutical is the hybrid of Nutrition and Pharmaceutical. Nutraceuticals, in broad, are food or part of food playing a significant role in modifying and maintaining normal physiological function that maintains healthy human beings. The principal reasons for the growth of the nutraceutical market worldwide are the current population and the health trends. The food products used as nutraceuticals can be categorized as dietary fibre, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and other different types of herbal/ natural foods. These nutraceuticals help in combating some of the major health problems of the century such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, cholesterol etc. In whole, Nutraceutical has led to the new era of medicine and health, in which the food industry has become a research-oriented sector.

In recent years, a new diet health paradigm is evolving which places more emphasis on the positive aspects of diet. The new lifestyle adopted by people today has changed the basic food habits of the latter. Consumption of the junk food has increased manifold leading to a number of diseases caused due to improper nutrition. Obesity is now recognized as a global issue. Heart disease continues to be a primary cause of death in most of the developing countries worldwide, followed by cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis and many others. Consumers being frustrated with the expensive, high-tech, disease-treatment approach in the modern medicines are seeking complementary or alternative beneficial products and the red tape of managed care makes Nutraceuticals particularly appealing.

Neutraceutical:
The term "nutraceutical" was coined from "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical" in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, MD, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Inno-vation in Medicine (FIM), Cranford, NJ. 1 According to DeFelice, nutraceutical can be defined as, "a food (or part of a food) that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and/or treatment of a dis-ease." .

Corresponding Author:-Harsha I. Raut
Nutraceuticals are found in a mosaic of products emerging from: a) The food industry, b) The herbal and dietary supplement market, c) Pharmaceutical industry, and d) The newly merged pharmaceutical/agribusiness/nutrition conglomerates.

Health benefits :
Avoid the side effect. May increase the health beneficial effect. May have naturally dietary supplement, so do not have unpleasant side effect. May increase the health value, our diet and improve medical condition of human.
May easily be available and economically affordable. Nutritional therapy is a healing system using dietary therapeutics or nutraceuticals as a complementary therapy. This therapy is based on the belief that foods can not only be sources of nutrients and energy but could also provide medicinal benefits.
According to Nutraceutical and nutritional therapy theory, it achieves this goal by using efficacy of such Nutraceuticals in detoxifying the body, avoiding vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and restoring healthy digestion and dietary habit. Phytonutrients basically is plant nutrients with particular biological activities in supporting human health.
The phytochemical work by the following ways: 1. Substrate for biochemical reactions. 2. Cofactors of enzymatic reactions. 3. Inhibitors of enzymatic reactions. 4. Absorbents that bind to and eliminate undesirable constituent in the intestine. 5. Enhance the absorption and/or stability of essential nutrients. 6. Selective growth factor for beneficial bacteria. 7. Fermentation substrate for beneficial bacteria.

Conclusion:-
With the ever-changing lifestyle of humans, the antioxidant defence systems are often overloaded resulting in oxidative stress. Moreover, the levels of antioxidant defence mechanism decrease appreciably with age. These may result in the development of a great many diseases. Hence research over the past several decades have primarily focussed on different nutraceuticals. This review reflects the potential merits and demerits of nutraceuticals among healthy individuals. However, an individual's susceptibility to any particular disease predominantly depends upon genetic predisposition and lifestyle disorders like smoking, high alcohol consumption. So, the response of nutraceuticals can vary from person to person. Nutraceuticals have proven health benefits and their consumption (within their acceptable Recommended Dietary Intakes) will keep diseases at bay and allow humans to maintain an overall good health.