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What are the types of functional foods?
There are three main categories of functional foods:
- Basic foods: Such as vegetables. Foods that are natural
- Processed foods: Such as oat bran cereal. Foods that have been treated
- Enhanced foods: Such as enhanced tomatoes. Foods that have been enhanced
to have a more functional component.
Within these three types of functional food categories lie most of the functional
foods that are being looked at as possible health benefit foods. The benefits
of these foods lie in their functional components, which include the following:
- Carotenoids
- Dietary fibre
- Fatty acids
- Flavonoids
- Plant sterols
- Prebiotics/Probiotics
- Soy Proteins (Phytoestrogens)
- Tannins
The above components of foods have been researched and found to have many medical
benefits. To the right side of this page is a description of each, along with
example functional foods and their health benefits.
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