From pharmaceuticals to nutraceuticals: bridging disease prevention and management

TLDR

Nutraceuticals lack a distinct definition from other food‑derived categories yet possess pharmacological benefits, underscoring the need for a clear, shared regulatory framework. The study aims to clarify nutraceuticals’ role as preventive and therapeutic agents by elucidating the mechanisms of action of their active substances. This review surveys recent studies evaluating nutraceutical safety, efficacy, and regulation to distinguish them from other health‑claiming food products. It finds that insufficient evidence and unsubstantiated health claims create false expectations, highlighting gaps in safety and efficacy data.

Abstract

Nutraceuticals, up today, do not have a specific definition distinct from those of other food-derived categories, e.g. food supplements, herbal products, pre and probiotics, functional foods, etc. They have, however, a pharmacological beneficial effect on health. Many studies have been recently addressed to assess their safety, efficacy, and regulation since they are getting growing attention by market and research, with the aim to clear the difference between them and other market available food-derived products that claim beneficial effect on health. Areas covered: The understanding of the potential mechanisms of action of pharmaceutically active substances contained in nutraceuticals that may improve health and reduce the risk of pathological conditions while enhancing overall well-being is the challenge for nutraceuticals to be considered as a preventive and therapeutic efficient tool in facing some diseases. Expert commentary: It is of utmost importance to have a proper and unequivocal definition of nutraceuticals and a shared regulation. Nevertheless, there is a lack of clear information and, often, the claimed health benefits may not be properly substantiated by safety and by efficacy in vivo data, which can induce false expectations and miss the target for a product to be effective, as claimed.