functional food lecture 14

Question 1

what are phytochemicals

Answer 1

bioactive nutrient plant chemicals in fruits veg grains and other plant foods that may provide desirable health benefits

Question 2

phytochemicals potential associated health promoting properties

Answer 2

-lowering serum cholesterol
- anti-cancer activity
- chemopreventative agent
-anti-oxidant
-coagulation and platelet aggregation
-anti-inflammation
- anti-osteoarthritic

Question 3

carotenoids

Answer 3

carrots, tomatoes, parsley, orange and green leafy veg
> Antioxidants protect against uterine, prostate, colorectal, ling and digestive tract cancers

Question 4

phytosterols

Answer 4

veg nuts fruits and seeds
> suppress the growth of diverse tumour cell lines via initiation of apoptosis and killing of cells

Question 5

phytoestrogen

Answer 5

legumes, berries, whole grains, cereals, red grapes
> protection against bone loss, cardiovascular diseases,, breast and uterine cancers

Question 6

polyphenols

Answer 6

flavonoids, isoflavonoids, anthocyanidins
>action against free radicals, platelet aggregation and hepatotoxins

Question 7

phytosterols intakes

Answer 7

intake ranges between ~150-300mg/day
most common plant sterols in the diet are: B-sitosterol (65% of dietary phytosterol) campesterol (30%) stigmasterol (3-5%)

Question 8

most common plant stanols in the diet

Answer 8

sitostanol and campestanol (2-5%)

Question 9

daily intake in the average western diet

Answer 9

150-300mg/d plant stenols
60mg/d stanols
500-800mg/d cholesterol

Question 10

what are chylomicrons

Answer 10

provide the vehicle by which cholesterol and phytosterols are transported into the blood circulation and subsequently into the liver

Question 11

lowering total serum cholesterol

Answer 11

Proven ability to lower cholesterol and LDL cholesterol conc.
inhibits the uptake of both dietart and endogenously produced cholesterol from the intestine
cholesterol lowering margarine can provide a 10-20% reduction in LDL-C
cholesterol lowering product (benecol) combined with cholesterol lowering drugs can achieve up to a 70% reduction in cholesterol

Question 12

mechanisms of action of phytodterols

Answer 12

-inhibition of carcinogen production
-disruption of cancer cell growth and multiplication
-disruption of invasion and metastasis
-induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis

Question 13

regulation europe

Answer 13

EC regulation 1997/258: considered novel food/novel food ingredient
limit of 3g phytosterol esters/day

Question 14

regulation US

Answer 14

1999: phytosterol esters were GRAS for use as an ingredient in veg oil based spreads that dont exceed 20%
2000: FDA authorised a health claim
total fat restricted to 13g per serving or 50g in the whole product

Question 15

Plant sterols and their derivatives

Answer 15

sitosterol and sitostanol= cholesterol lowering activity
Approx. 10% reduction in LDL w/ phytosterol dose of 2g/d

Question 16

Recommendations depend on population group

Answer 16

-phytosterols are targeted at people who have raised cholesterol
- no benefits to other pop groups.
-can be taken by kids who have inherited high cholesterol such as familial hypercholesterolemia