Super Meals

Welcome to the world of functional foods – the everyday products that promise extra health benefits with every mouthful.

As we become more aware of how what we eat impacts on our health, we’re demanding more from everyday items in our pantry and fridge. Food producers are responding by developing items packed with extra ingredients; breads containing omega-3 fatty acids, calcium-enriched milk, breakfast cereals with extra iron, and probiotic yoghurts that boost the good bacteria in our gut.

Kylie Andrew, consultant dietitian for the Fernwood Scientific Advisory Board, believes functional foods are a good idea. “They provide consumers with healthy alternatives,” she says. “For example, there are now breads and cereals enriched with omega-3s, usually found in fish. We know these nutrients offer many health benefits. Now people who don’t eat fish, whether because of an allergy, their beliefs or they simply don’t like it, can eat these breads and cereals, and get the benefit of omega-3s.”
 

Use with care

“I recommend people consider including functional foods like reduced-fat calcium milk, iron-enriched breakfast cereals, probiotic yoghurts and foods with added folate in their diet,” says Kylie.

It’s better to eat a balanced diet so you get all the nutrients you need naturally. Some are concerned that people won’t focus on eating a healthy balanced diet, instead opting for these functional foods in the belief that they are eating well.
 

Added extras

Here are some of the more familiar functional foods that are already available, and some we will probably see appearing on supermarket shelves soon:

• Omega 3-enriched eggs, bread, meat and margarine
• Iron-enriched cereals
• Margarine with plant sterols to lower cholesterol
• Calcium-enriched milk
• Iron-enriched orange juice
• Folate-enriched cereals
• Probiotic yoghurts and yoghurt drinks
• Soy flour and linseed breads and cereals
• Oat bran and barley bran grain-based foods that help lower cholesterol
• Hi-maize – a natural dietary fibre added to white bread, pasta and breakfast cereals to help improve bowel health.

The CSIRO Food Futures National Research Flagship is investigating the use of an ingredient in meat that has potential anti-inflammatory properties. One company has created a green tea extract that contains the goodness of green tea and almost no caffeine. It’s a potential additive to a wide range of foods and drinks. A company called the Manildra Group has developed a wheat protein product rich in glutamine – a nutrient that speeds up the body’s recovery after exercise or physical injury.