It’s all connected: what is functional nutrition?

The issue of nutrition is of concern to many people, because what we eat determines not only our appearance, but also the condition of our body. The term “functional food” first appeared in the 1980s in Japan. Since then, this system, which can “close” the needs of the body in useful substances, has become quite popular. Together with a specialist in functional nutrition Zhenya Geneva, we understand what it is and what its benefits are.

Functioning of the body

To understand the essence of functional nutrition, first we need to understand how the body works.

Zhenya: The thing is that we have not only separate organs, such as intestines, kidneys and so on. The human body is a system, a “cosmos” in which everything is interconnected: each organ is related to the other. Therefore, the correct functioning of the whole organism is necessary for health. When something does not work properly, especially over a long period of time, diseases appear.

What is the meaning of functional nutrition?

Functional nutrition is an essential part of the preventive medicine paradigm. The goal of this approach to health is to prevent the development of diseases.

Zhenya: This system of nutrition helps not individual organs, but the entire body system. As an example, the work of the entire gastrointestinal tract begins with the acidity of gastric juice, which is very often forgotten. It is such a “cascade”. For proper functioning of the gallbladder, pancreas, intestines, normal acidity of gastric juice is necessary. If it is not, then, for example, the protein that comes with food will not be digested.

Functional nutrition helps all systems of the body to work correctly, slower “wear out”, which, in turn, prevents the development of pathologies. In addition, such a system allows you to get all the necessary nutrients together with food.

How is the diet prepared?

Zhenya: A specialist in functional nutrition works individually with a person, studying their habits, cravings and symptoms. The doctor needs to understand where in the body there is a “breakdown” that has not yet had time to turn into a serious disease. Functional nutrition, more often than not, includes the right fats. And a sufficient amount of fats is added to the diet – for everyone it is individualized. So we help the body to assimilate fat-soluble vitamins. That is, such a system provides for the additional use of vitamins.

Functional nutrition does not allow “empty” food, which has a high calorie content, but is of no value to the body. It does not contain the necessary vitamins and trace elements important for the healthy functioning of organs.