Nutraceuticals: Are They Medicine or Food?

The answer? They're both.

In recent years, there has been a boom of nutraceuticals in the US. Derived from the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceuticals,” nutraceuticals are medicinal compounds or products derived from food and sold in medicinal form. In addition to their nutritional value, they also carry specific health and medicinal benefits that can help prevent diseases. An example is lycopene, which is extracted from tomatoes and helps prevent cancer.

The description of nutraceuticals often depends on how they are sold or marketed, as they come in different types. They can be sold as dietary supplements, or as isolated drugs or botanicals, such as ginseng and gingko biloba. Nutraceuticals can also be marketed as “functional foods.” These come with constituents or vitamins that provide additional benefits not usually offered by the food alone. This could be in the form of processed food and drink like milk fortified with Vitamin D, or eggs enhanced with Omega-3.

More and more people are becoming concerned with their health, and part of maintaining health is to have a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals. The use of nutraceuticals aims to achieve that balance, in a relatively modern and more proactive way. These products are found in local supermarkets and come at an affordable price. Why, then, would anyone still opt to get sick and spend thousands on medicines if they can spend less on food supplements and remain healthy?

The Characteristics of High Quality Vitamins

Many vitamin manufacturers claim to manufacture the best vitamins. However, it's not possible for every competitor to be on top at the same time. There are good vitamins, not so good ones, and ones that do more harm than good. Reputable vitamin manufacturers ensure that their supplements are absorbable. If these supplements do not get dissolved in the digestive system easily, then they will not get into the bloodstream to nourish cells.

Good vitamins should also be potent enough to have an effect on the body. Naturally-occurring vitamins will always be more complex than simplified and formulated supplements. Because of this, it is necessary for people who wish to improve their health to take higher amounts of these vitamins, as prescribed by their physicians and other health care specialists.

High quality vitamins are manufactured in such a way that each intake is able to deliver the same positive impact on the human body. These supplements should be devoid of unnecessary fillers, and should come from quality sources. Ingredients necessary for making vitamins are extracted from raw materials. Different vitamin manufacturers have different sources. A reputable vitamin manufacturer does not compromise the quality of the raw materials used because it would, in turn, affect the quality of their products.

Boost Your Immune System with Vitamin C

It's the immune system's job to stop viruses, bacteria, and parasites from damaging the various parts of the human body. Once body parts start functioning improperly, the chances that a person will succumb to diseases rises significantly. To prevent this from happening, people need to consume organic compounds rich in ascorbate—otherwise known as Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is just one of the many nutrients that are classified as water-soluble vitamins. Aside from protecting cells and boosting the performance of the immune system, water-soluble vitamins—particularly B vitamins—all contribute to the act of metabolizing digested food. These vitamins do not linger in the body for long; it caters to the short-term needs of various systems before being excreted via urination. The absence of a storage place for water-soluble vitamins requires individuals to source them from their daily diet.

If you think your immune system has been weakened, and you've been sick a lot or feel exhausted most of the time, then you should diligently consume vitamin C to improve your condition. Aside from eating fresh fruits and vegetables rich in the said nutrient (like broccoli, oranges, strawberries, and spinach), you can also take vitamin C supplements. Seek the advice of a doctor to determine the amount of vitamins you'll need to be in top shape again.

Improving a Product's Package Design

A product will be able to sell well if the packaging is striking enough to attract the customer's attention. Market trends state that like advertising in any form, it takes a maximum of 15 seconds for the customer to decide whether to buy a product or not; any longer and they'll move on. In light of this, how do you grab the attention of customers in such a short span of time, especially in the case of medication that has already been FDA-approval? There are ways to go about this.

First, conduct extensive market research and surveys to determine the product's target demographic group. Prior to performing market research, you will have to establish certain preliminaries—for example, market research and surveys should note if the product is unisex or aimed at a certain gender. Analyses of similar products from the competition should be factored in as well. The resulting data will help the marketing and design teams fashion the products to target the preferences of these demographic groups.

The product's main features should be highlighted in the design, and slogans should be employed when necessary. The company's design and marketing divisions will also need to coordinate their work to ensure that the product's final design synchs with the proposed campaign. The new product has the potential to sell well if the company's design and marketing people do their homework. Post-release consumer research can also improve sales.

Pills or Liquid? Medicine Explained

The key for medicine to work is absorption; if it doesn't get absorbed by the body, no effect can take place. At first, medicine came in the form of ground matter, which was made into teas and ointments, or even eaten raw. Then came the pills, which surprisingly aren't a modern invention; they've existed as early as 1500 B.C. Today, medicine comes in other forms, such as lozenges, liqui-gels, and caplets (which are a hybrid of capsule and tablet).

Pills need to break down as fast as possible before they pass through the digestive system, or so it seems. Liquid medicine, according to experts, gets absorbed by the body the fastest due to its fluid nature. So why the need for pills? That's where the myth of “faster is better” is debunked; fast doesn't necessarily mean an immediate effect. In some cases, slow absorption is better, namely for essential nutrients. Liquid medicine suffers from the disadvantage of an uneven distribution of ingredients.

Tablets and capsules wrap the essentials in one neat package, helping people get more out of their meds. Tablets, in fact, are relatively easy and affordable to produce compared with other forms of medicine in the market. Capsules, on the other hand, are suitable for digestive tracts that have a hard time breaking down tablets due to their gelatin encapsulation. In the end, no form of medicine enjoys superiority; it depends on the stuff that's inside.