Journal of Nutraceuticals and Health

ABSTRACT

“Nutraceuticals” is a word 35 years old, defined by its inventor (Dr Stephen DeFelice) as “a food (or part of a food) that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of a disease”. The use of food as medicine is as old as humanity. Most animals use herbs and other natural products to care about their own health or to cure their diseases.

In Far East, both Traditional Chinese Medicine and ancient India’s Ayurvedic tradition attributed a great emphasis on the importance of a well-balanced nutrition to preserve health. In the first case, food was a crucial element in maintaining the equilibrium between yin and yang, the two opposing forces, and obtain the qi, the saneness. Indians’ classical medicine attributed magic properties to several foods in order to preserve prakriti (the natural individual constitution) and fight against the vikriti (the possible imbalances).

KEYWORDS