Overview of health food

1 The concept of health food health food is a kind of food, which has the common characteristics of general food, can regulate human function, is suitable for specific people to eat, not for the purpose of treating diseases Its correct understanding should include the following elements (four elements): first, in terms of attributes, health food must be food, non-toxic, harmless, meet the requirements of food, and the expected consumption in daily diet can show the effect Second, in terms of ingredients and processing, it can be a natural food containing some ingredients; or it can be a food with some ingredients added to it, or it can be a food with some ingredients removed through food technology Third, in terms of function, it has a clear, specific, and scientifically proven health care function Health food is usually developed and produced for a specific population whose functions need to be regulated, so it may only be applicable to certain specific population, such as the population with limited age, gender or genetic structure, and it cannot have the same effect on all people Fourthly, health food is not for the purpose of treatment, and can not replace the therapeutic effect of drugs on patients; and the specific function of health food can not replace the normal diet of human body and the demand for all kinds of essential nutrients Specifically speaking, we need to recognize the difference between health food and common food and medicine from the perspective of applicable population Ordinary food is taken by ordinary people, from which the human body takes all kinds of nutrients, and meets the sensory needs of color, fragrance, taste, shape, etc.; medicine is taken by patients, so as to achieve the purpose of treating diseases; and health food promotes the recovery of the body from the third state to the healthy state by adjusting the physiological function of the human body, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the health level 2 The development of China's health food requires that China has a long history in the development and application of health food In order to promote the healthy and orderly development of China's health food, it needs the combination of scientific research, production, circulation, publicity and management (1) to strengthen the scientific research of health food, the description of traditional Chinese medicine about food health has a long history and is a precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation China has a vast territory, people of all ethnic groups have different eating habits, and there are many kinds of food, many of which are dual-use medicine and food These advantages of traditional medicine culture and food resources should be valued and utilized by us At present, a lot of health food in our country is made up of traditional Chinese medicine, which can be used for both medicine and food However, these empirical things are quite different from modern biomedical achievements, lacking modern scientific experimental analysis and demonstration, which limits their further development Therefore, we should use modern technology to find functional factors from natural products, carry out the research of structure-activity and dose-activity relationship of functional factors, and understand their mechanism of action and possible toxicity; secondly, we should develop new technology, new technology and new equipment to extract and separate various functional factors, so as to improve the biological function of functional factors in food So that the research and production of health food in China can reach the world advanced level as soon as possible (2) to standardize the publicity of health food, labels, instructions and advertisements have become an important medium for consumers to understand the nature and function of a product Therefore, the labels and instructions of health food must be approved by the government departments and strictly managed The labels and instructions of health food shall not only meet the requirements of general food, but also indicate the health function of health food, suitable for people, consumption method and recommended dosage, effective ingredients or names of relevant raw materials In addition to the publicity of the product itself, all kinds of news media should also give full play to their own advantages They should often publicize the concept of scientific consumption to the masses, popularize the knowledge of scientific consumption, expose and resist the business behavior that goes against the "scientific consumption", and guide consumers to enhance their scientific awareness and identification ability (3) strengthening the macro guidance and management of government departments on health food, strengthening the macro guidance and management of government departments on health food, is not only related to the improvement of people's health level, but also has potential significance for improving national physique and further promoting social and economic development The macro guidance of government departments is mainly through legislative steps and law enforcement actions to ensure that consumers have the right to choose safe and effective health food At present, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision and management of the research and development, production and circulation of health food, and urge the media and enterprises to release real information and scientific basis to consumers, so that the public can choose their own health care methods and related food to prevent diseases and improve their health level 3 Functional ingredients commonly used in health food: protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin and some minerals contained in natural food are indispensable substances in human life and belong to essential nutrients But human food contains more than these kinds of nutrients In recent years, due to the research and development of nutritional epidemiology, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, food hygiene and other fields, it is possible for people to have a more in-depth discussion on the physiological role of these components By using these beneficial food ingredients and various essential nutrients, and through proper processing and scientific evaluation, we can get health food that can regulate physiological functions or prevent diseases (1) proteins, polypeptides and amino acids: including superoxide dismutase, soybean polypeptides, taurine, etc (2) carbohydrate with health care function: including dietary fiber, oligosaccharide, plant polysaccharide, animal polysaccharide, etc (3) functional lipid components: the functional components in oil are mainly phospholipid, functional fatty acid, phytosterol, octacosanol, squalene, etc (4) micronutrients with health care function: for example, selenium and vitamin E with antioxidant function, calcium, zinc or other bivalent metal elements which can promote the excretion of lead in the body, etc (5) functional phytochemicals the dietary fiber, plant polysaccharides and phytosterols mentioned above are all phytochemicals, in addition, there are more types of phytochemicals such as phenols, terpenes and organic sulfur compounds Many components of Chinese herbal medicine have regulating effect on physiological function and are valuable resources of plant chemicals in China (6) probiotics: common probiotics include bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, probiotic Streptococcus, etc.