Enhancing Quality of Life Beyond Basic Nutrition

Functional Foods:

The concept of “functional foods” was initially developed in Japan at the time of 1980’s and it categorized the food as not the only contributor of basic nutrition but also as a source of nutrients which enhances the overall quality of the life of the consumers. These are the modified forms of food which offers increased or added benefits beyond their basic nutritional values. The foods provide those added nutrients that give protection against many diseases by neutralizing or scavenging the harmful compounds such as free radicals. In this way it prevents the damage of the cells of the body and protects our body from chronic conditions such as the cardiovascular disease, blood sugar and cancers. Though these foods offer added benefits, they should not be taken as an alternative to a plate of healthy diet. In the past decades, the demands of the consumer has changed regarding the concept of food as it has to provide several benefits such as prevention from the disease related to nutrition, foods should improve the physical and the mental health of people and should offer the consumers with a healthy life style. The recent upsurge for the development of functional foods is fuelled by the potential of the market regarding the manufacturing of foods that can improve the physical health and life style of the consumers (Milner, 1999; Ashwell, 2004). This trend is significant for researchers exploring innovative approaches in healthcare dissertation help.

The functional foods are divided into the following major subtypes:

Fortified food products: the food samples contain additional nutrients along with the traditional constituents.

Enriched products: The foods are provided with additional nutrients that are not present normally in their composition.

Altered Products: In these food products the non beneficial compounds are replaced with the beneficial compounds.

Enhanced commodities: One of the ingredients of the food sample is increased via natural methods by employing special conditions (Milner, 1999; Milner, 2000; Van Kleef, et al, 2005).

The sources of functional foods:

The vegetables, grains, fruits and nuts are considered as conventional source of functional foods. The modified food sources are orange juice, cereals and especially yoghurts. The special medical food formulations include the special customised food products and beverages certified for certain health conditions. The food products designed for the infants and the hypoallergenic foods are included within the special dietary foods. Cold water fishes such as sardines and salmons are considered to be protein enriched foods with increased amounts of omega-3 fatty acids which decreases the overall risk of cardiovascular diseases, lowers the pain in joint, and augments the functioning and development of brain. Nuts help to control the level of blood sugars. Cashews, walnuts and almonds are found to be high in magnesium content which helps to decrease the blood pressure, control the blood cholesterol level. Barleys also provide the same health benefits such as oatmeal such as it helps to check the level of blood sugar and cholesterol. Beans are considered to be the excellent source of protein, folate, fibres and potassium. The varied types of berries such as the cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries are considered as excellent functional foods and are low in the calorie content. They are rich source of pigment named anthocyanin which not only gives the colour but also provides the other health related benefits. As per the recent source, algae can acts as a source of newer natural compounds having the biological activity as functional foods. They are widely utilised in the western countries to extracts the following compounds such as carragenates and aga. Among all the varied forms of marine microalgae, the red and green algae are found to be high in the protein levels and show high levels of antiviral activities. The algae are also considered to be the excellent source of water soluble antioxidant compounds such as derivatives of carotenoid, tocopherol and chlorophyll for example the vitamin E compounds and isoprenoids which act an efficient antioxidant and anti carcinogenic compounds (Milner, 2002; Wells, et al, 2017; Van Kleef, et al, 2005; Gupta, et al,2017).

Probiotics:

The particular concept developed during the 20th century, and this was adopted from the first hypothesis proposed by the Russian scientist and also a Nobel Laureate named Elie Metchnikoff. The term was first coined by Lilly and Stillwell at 1965, and it denotes “for life” which means that the substances secreted by one bacterium is stimulating the growth of another bacterium. Probiotics are cultures of live microorganisms which are applied in sufficient amounts to serve the function of functional food constituents provides the consumer with a lot of health benefits. The varieties of the probiotic compounds depend upon its wide range of usage such as in humans, poultries, pigs, ruminants and in aquacultures. According to the concept of the Nobel Laureate, the intake of bacteria responsible for fermentation named Lactobacillus shows a positive impact on the microorganisms inhabiting the gut and also reduces the toxic activity of the pathogenic bacteria (Grover, et al, 2012; Saxelin, et al, 2008).

Formulations of Probiotics for human consumption:

The microorganisms which are commonly used as probiotics for the consumption of humans are Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Enterococcus spp., Bifidobacterium spp. The probiotics that are considered suitable for the consumption by the human should be able to provide all the health related benefits, should augment the state of well being of the consumer and the aspect of safety which depends on the combination of the possible chronic adverse effects and prolonged use effects. The dairy probiotic include the yoghurt products, cheese and cultured butter milk (Sreeja, et al, 2013).

The important characteristics of probiotic are:

The microorganisms that were selected should not be pathogenic or toxic.

It should be isolated from the same host for which the preparation is intended.

Should be able to survive the harsh conditions of the gastrointestinal tract by possessing the characteristics of acid and bile resistant.

Should possess the ability of colonizing the intestinal epithelium as it determines the efficiency of successful modulation of the immune system and eventually the exclusion of pathogens competitively.

Should be able to co-exist with the normal microorganisms of the intestine.

Should be able to secrete the substances that inhibits the growth of other pathogenic bacteria such as bacteriocins

Must have a prominent beneficial effect on the health of the host

Should be able to endure the harsh conditions involved in the commercial manufacturing and processing process

Should not possess any unpleasant textures and flavours (Refer Fig: 1) (Syngai, et al, 2016; Klaenhammer, et al, 1999).

Fig: 1 health benefits of Probiotics (Source: Syngai, et al, 2016)

The important effects of probiotics on the guts:

Probiotics can work via varied mechanisms but the exact mechanism is still not clear.

Enhancement of the barrier functioning of the epithelium:

The barrier function of the intestine is preserved by varied correlated mechanisms such as secretion of mucus, secretion of chloride and water and the binding of the epithelial cells with the help of tight junction proteins at their apical junctions. The barrier defense of the gut is carried out by mucins which comprises of MUC 2 and MUC 3 and this are secreted by the goblet cells. The polymerization of mucin builds up the structural foundation of the mucus, provides the protection from pathogenic microorganisms, toxins, enzymes, abrasion and dehydration. Bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299v and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG enhances the production of the intestinal mucins which alters the colonization of the intestinal pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 on the epithelial cells and inhibits the translocation of the pathogenic bacterium. Moreover, certain probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus thermophilus limits the secretion of water and chloride which results in the reversion of the secretion of chlorides by the epithelial cells induced by E. coli.

The integrity of the intestinal barrier is enhanced by the up regulating the gene expression responsible for the tight junction signalling. For example the bacteria Lactobacilli modulate the expression of several genes coding for the adherence junctions proteins such as E-cadherin, β-catenin of the T84 epithelial cells. The intestinal cells when incubated with lactobacilli transform the phosphorylation of the tight junction proteins. The probiotics had also been noticed to show the repairing action of the damaged barrier function (Terpou, et al, 2019; Syngai, et al, 2016).

Increasing adhesion to the intestinal epithelial cells:

The successful performance of the probiotic strains depends upon the strong adhesion and the colonization capacity to the gut wall which results in the development of the immune system of the host. Bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299v is responsible for mannose specific adhesion to adhere to the colonic cells in human. After adherence several physiological activities takes place such as the secretion of chemokines and cytokines which exerts their secondary impact by motivating the mucosal and systemic immunity of the host (Terpou, et al, 2019; Syngai, et al, 2016).

The removal of pathogenic microorganisms by competitive exclusion

By the secretion of peptides which are antimicrobial in nature

By modulating the immune system: this is achieved by enhancing the phagocytic activity of the macrophage cells; by inducing the activities of the natural killer cells; by enhancing the production of IgA; the alteration of the production level of cytokines; the probiotics (Terpou, et al, 2019; Syngai, et al, 2016).

Interferes with the signal molecules responsible for quorum sensing

Probiotics and the gut bacteria can also affect the health of the brain. Certain probiotics had been shown to improve the condition brain by reducing the mental health related symptoms such as stress, depression and anxiety. The communication between the gut and the brain is known as gut brain axis. Those probiotics that alters the brain health are known as “psychobiotics”. A recent small study with population suffering from the irritable bowel syndrome with mild level of anxiety or depressive symptoms when consumed a probiotic strain Bifidobacterium longum NCC3001for a period of about six weeks showed significant symptoms of improvements. Few examples of food responsible for the beneficial effects on the gut brain axis are: Omega 3 fatty acids, fermented category of foods, polyphenol rich foods, tryptophan rich foods (Terpou, et al, 2019; Syngai, et al, 2016).

Limitations of using Probiotics:

The risk are mainly due to the safety aspect of the probiotic therapy on the target groups such as the immune compromised individuals which includes the pregnant women, older adults, infants, critically ill patients and patients who are hospitalized for a prolonged duration of time. The probiotic will interact with the commensal bacteria of the host and these can have a direct effect upon the health of the individuals. Therefore the phenomena of interaction should be evaluated in details for the development of probiotics in future research. Another challenge for the development of probiotics is the understanding of the mechanism of its action so that the strain and the dosage limit can be effectively determined for the optimal health benefits. Research studies on the clinical and the mechanical approach is needed on an urgent basis to understand the overall interactions and to formulate successful interventions. These studiers should also include the investigation of the intestinal microorganisms and the effects of prolonged use of probiotics. On the theoretical basis the probiotics may cause few problems such as detrimental activities of metabolism, systemic infections and enhanced level of immune stimulation in the vulnerable individual and transfer of genes. The entercoccci strains may contain the genes that are responsible for antimicrobial resistance and may also produce enterotoxins or emetic toxin. The regulations for the dietary supplements do not exist in many countries and these are not that strict in comparison to the regulations for the prescription of drugs. The storage guidelines of the probiotics are a major technical challenge as many cultures die during the manufacturing and the storage process (Ayichew, et al, 2017; Reid, et al, 2006; Reuter, 2001).

Designing of potential bakery foods using probiotic in the bakery:

As most of the probiotic bacteria get eliminated during the baking process two alternative processes namely sourdough technology or microencapsulation are used. This sourdough technology supplies the bioactive compounds obtained from the fermentation of dough. This includes the benefits of probiotics without the use of live probiotic cells. The sourdough is a mixture of flour of wheat or rye and water which is fermented by the lactic acid bacteria with or without the use of yeast. The benefits associated with this process are varied range of aroma, texture and flavour, the enhanced shelf life due to increased content of organic acids, component enrichment by bioprocess.

The technique of microencapsulation increases the viability of cells in the bakery foods. The process can be defined as “Entrapment of a compound or a system inside a dispersed material for its immobilisation, protection, controlled release, structuration and functionalisation”. The techniques involve the following steps: pilling, spraying and emulsification (Longoria-García, et al, 2018).

Few innovative formulations that have used probiotics are Dairy Balance Milk with the Ganeden BC30 probiotic strain, ProBioKid (a amalgamation of three probiotic strains), Bravo Friscus which is 100% fruit juice with supplemented Lactobacillus paracasei 8700: 2 and Probi's Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL9 (Dey,2018; Alldrick, 2010; Pedroza-Islas, et al, 2018; Ying, et al, 2010 ).

Conclusions:

The probiotics are functional foods that consist of live cultured bacteria. The beneficial effects of the probiotic on the gut is observed due to the varied mechanism such as enhancing the barrier functioning of the epithelium, by increasing adhesion to the intestinal epithelial cells, removal of pathogenic microorganisms by competitive exclusion, by the secretion of peptides which are antimicrobial in nature, by modulating the immune system and interfering with the signal molecules responsible for quorum sensing. The limitations for the use of probiotic highlighted about the risk are mainly due to the safety aspect among the immune compromised individuals which includes the pregnant women, older adults, infants, critically ill patients and patients who are hospitalized for a prolonged duration of time. The mechanism of the action of probiotics should be clear before the application as it will interact with the commensal bacteria and may also secrete enterotoxin or transfer the antimicrobial resistance genes among the other bacteria. Further research should be conducted regarding the storage and dosage guidelines of the probiotic for safe therapeutic purposes.

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