Nutriconnect provides

• Design or review a research strategy for a research program; including health claim goals
• Review research data, progress reports, abstracts and manuscripts
• Write white papers, literature review, systematic review and monographs
• Interpret science to support marketing, public relations and advertising efforts
• Write/review proposals, protocols and budgets
• Clinical study placement and monitoring
• Connect industry with science providers

• Regulatory evaluation of ingredients and product formulas
• Claims substantiation
• Risk assessment
• Nutritional analysis
• Label reviews
• New dietary ingredient notifications
• Updated information and impact analysis of upcoming food and nutrition policy

Specialist support in phytochemical research, ethnopharmacology research, technical reviews and new product development and health claims substantiation.

Medical food or Food for Special Medical Purpose are principally formulated food products, intended to be used under the supervision of medical and other appropriate health professionals (e.g. dietitians, nurses and pharmacists). This is required for the dietary management of individuals (including children) with ongoing chronic disease, disorders or medical conditions, or during acute phases of illness, injury or disease states. This article will discuss current market dynamics, regulations, the latest breakthroughs in research and everything you need to navigate this advancing sector.Medical food, a therapeutic category is distinct from both drugs and supplements. The label must include “to be used under medical supervision.” Medical foods are produced under rigid manufacturing practices and maintain high labelling standards

From a medical standpoint, an increasing prevalence of diseases such as metabolic syndrome, Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), lactose intolerance, Alzheimer's disease and food intolerances are continuously being targeted by industries for development of medical foods. Age-related digestive tract diseases as well as reduced general digestive and absorptive function are another focussed health conditions for development of medical foods.

The majority (51 of 82) US medical food products on the market are for metabolic diseases. Protein based medical foods are the most common mechanism of action. Other nutrients such as omega 3, isoflavone, soluble fiber, vitamin D, chelated zinc, flavonoids (e.g. baicalin, catechin, pterostibene), chromium picolinate, phytosterols, L-arginine are the leading ingredients are being used in developing medical foods. Other vitamins and minerals such as pyridoxine, thiamine, folic acid are also being used in combination.

The ‘Medical Foods’ category is relatively well known in the USA, but less so elsewhere.The size of the medical food market is unclear. FDA predicts strong growth, in light of the increasing use of medical foods in long-term care and the growing population of older individuals. Global sales have been projected at just under $9 billion (Kalorama, 2010; Global Industry Analysts, 2011). The lack of an industry association and scarcity of public data make it difficult to estimate US Medical Food revenue; the best estimate is $2.1 billion for Y2011 growing at ~10%.

Obesity is a major health burden of modern times and should be considered as a global epidemic. Conventional or allopathic anti-obesity medicines have high abuse potential and frequently exhibit side effects, even death. Few botanicals included in natural weight loss products are sold and used globally with no (or very little) proof of efficacy or quality, and there is serious concerns regarding safety have surfaced recently with good reason. Multiple target therapy to combat obesity is a new paradigm of drug development research and highly complex plant extracts are ideally suited to fulfil a multi-targeted approach. This article explores targets for anti-obesity treatment, particularly from weight management perspective and contains an overview of the natural products that have been investigated in vivo (preclinical) and/or clinically for their anti-obesity effects.

The alarming growth statistics on obesity unequivocally warning us that it should be considered a threat to the general health of the global population since it is associated with an increased risk for conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, Type-2 diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea. This threat opens to unscrupulous marketing channel by companies wanting to capitalize on this multibillion dollar industry with little consideration to the overall effect that consumption of these products may have on the consumer. This is further compounded by the fact that there is a general misconception by the public that ‘natural or green is always good’, despite the fact that more and more evidence to the contrary is emerging.

However, if these herbal products are marketed with high level health claims, they should be controlled in the same way as conventional drugs in terms of quality and proof of efficacy. In addition, physicians should expand their knowledge and awareness of the potential dangers and risks of herbal medicines and supplements. Furthermore, it is important that they request consumption information and global periodic safety data routinely as a part of the patient history taking process. In addition to safety, the quality and efficacy of these products are also neglected to a large extent. Another concern is that much of the research has been of an in vitro nature and an alarming percentage of weight management ingredients/products have not been tested clinically in humans, yet they are freely sold and consumed daily. Clearly, the necessary clinical information is lacking and future studies should therefore focus on human clinical setting. There is also another serious concern. Large numbers of plant-derived products are readily screened by pancreatic lipase inhibitors, which give information on only peripheral side effects by ignoring the systemic effects. In addition to lipase inhibitors, α-amylases function to digest carbohydrates into readily absorbable sugars must be included to show the beneficial effect in diabetes and most probably also in obesity.

India is known for its traditional medici¬nal systems – Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani, which are mentioned even in the ancient Vedas and other scriptures. The Ayurvedic concept appeared and de¬veloped between 2500-500BC in India. The inner meaning of Ayurveda, “science of life,” comes from the ancient Indian system of healthcare, focused on views of man and his illness. In Ayurveda, the positive health means metabolically well balanced human beings, which offers a complete system to live a long healthy life (“science of longevity”) through diet and nutrition.

It was not long ago that Ayurvedic medicines and Ayurveda-derived dietary supplements were only found in a hand¬ful of health food stores in both India and abroad. These days, however, it is difficult to find a health food store that does not have Ayurveda-based herbal products on the shelf. And even in mainstream chan¬nels, food, drug and mass market grocery stores, duty free airport stores are start¬ing to recognize the value of this class of herbs. Indeed, today a consumer does not have to go far to find products based on this ancient Indian system of medicine.

Dietary supplements, in¬cluding herbal, are popular complementary or alternative products for people. These are the supplements that are intended to supplement the diet and contain one or more dietary ingredients (includ¬ing vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and other substances) or their constituents. These are intended to be taken by mouth as a pill, capsule, tab¬let, or liquid and are labelled on the front panel as being a dietary/food supplement or as nutraceuticals.

These botanicals are sold in many forms as fresh or dried products, liquid or solid ex¬tracts, tablets, capsules, pow¬ders, tea bags, and so forth. For example, fresh ginger root is often used in various food stores; dried ginger root is sold packaged in tea bags, capsules, or tablets, and liquid preparations made from gin¬ger root are also sold in the market. A particular group of chemicals or a single chemi¬cal may be isolated from a botanical and sold as a dietary supplement, usually in tablet or capsule form. An example is phytoestrogens from soy products.

India is the largest medici¬nal plants producer. There are currently about 250,000 reg¬istered medical practitioners of the Ayurvedic system, as compared to about 700,000 in modern medicine. In In¬dia, around 20,000 medicinal plants have been recorded; however, traditional practi¬tioners use only 7,000–7,500 plants for curing different dis¬eases. The proportion of use of plants in the different Indian systems of medicine is Ayurve¬da 2,000, Siddha 1,300, Unani 1,000, Homeopathy 800, Ti¬betan 500, Modern 200, and folk 4,500.

In India, around 25,000 ef¬fective plant-based formula¬tions are used in traditional and folk medicine. More than 1.5 million practitioners are using the traditional medicinal system for healthcare in India. It is estimated that more than 7,800 manufacturing units are involved in the production of natural health products and traditional plant-based for¬mulations in India, which re¬quires more than 2,000 tons of medicinal plant raw mate¬rial annually. More than 1,500 herbals are sold as dietary supplements or ethnic tradi¬tional medicines.

The association of nu¬traceuticals with traditional Ayurvedic medicine is bound to bring long lasting consum¬er acceptance. When support¬ed by current modern medi¬cal research, the acceptance is whole hearted. Despite very strong tra-ditional use, the nutraceuti¬cal potential of Ayurvedic components is still not very promising on the global mar¬ket due to the lack of policy sup¬port at a domestic level.The Indian pharmaceutical industry need to show strong commitmenttoAyurvedic research and standardization for development of world class Ayurvedic modern medicines.

Consumer acceptance is crucial for the development of successful food products based on nutrigenomics principles since not all technologies, however, are equally accepted by consumers. Nutrigenomics, the study of how different foods may interact with specific genes, aims to promote and maintain health via optimised and personalized food products and services. Besides advancing the fundamental understanding of diet–disease relationships, nutrigenomics could provide opportunities for the development of food products or dietary advice tailored to the nutritional needs of specific groups of consumers, or even individuals. Upfront involvement and proactive communication of all stakeholders are considered crucial for successful commercialisation of personalized foods.

Although ‘personalised/nutrigenomic’ foods have yet to be mentioned specifically as current functional drivers, many of the current trends refer directly or indirectly to ‘personalisation’ aspects. One recent market analysis on functional foods noted that although the industry is already crowded, there appears to be some splintering into subcategories based on consumer target markets (niche markets). Many of the drivers behind this trend in personalisation of food are changing demographics and social trends (more ‘singles’ and childless couples), consumer awareness and subsequently increased scientific research-led clinical evidence for the efficacy of functional foods, increased nutrition-oriented marketing activity, particularly targeting health professionals, and the penetration of mass market distribution channels. The consumer’s preference for optimal health is also a major driver for food choice and food production. Ethical, legal and social issues are adding a new dimension in functional food development as a future driver. The integration of batteries of nutrigenetics tests into routine clinical nutrition practice remains a major multidisciplinary challenge, but one thing is clear that pharmacogenomics will be the driver for the application of genomics technologies to pharmacology, and nutrigenomics will piggyback on the advances made by medicine.