What is food supplement and what are it's functions?

Question

What is food supplement and what are it's functions?

Answer 1

Whole food supplements are "concentrated real food," not synthetic vitamins and minerals. They contain vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other nutrients in the exact ratios found in the foods themselves.

Our bodies are extremely deficient in the vital nutrients they need to keep us healthy. There are many reasons for this, but mostly it is due to the inferior food supply. The majority of the food on the grocery store shelves has been sprayed, injected, heated, etc. resulting in a poor vitamin, mineral and enzyme content (not to mention the poor soil quality).

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are the breeding grounds for disease. Therefore it is very important that you supplement your food intake with WHOLE FOOD vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

Answer 2

By food supplementation do you mean adding vitamins and minerals to foods that were not previously present? e.g. adding calcium to orange juice?

Its functions would be increased sales./ marketing tool, to improve the intake of a particular vitamin/ mineral in a particular popuation group (e.g. putting folate in yoghurt in an attempt to improve the folate status of women of child bearing age).

Otherwise you can have food fortification which is the process of replacing vitamins/ minerals that are normally present in a food but are lost during its processing e.g. thiamin in bread. It also include just 'topping up' the amount of a vitamin/ mineral in a food so that its at higher levels e.g. vitamin C and orange juice.