Nutraceuticals in Health and Disease Prevention

Nutraceuticals in Health and Disease Prevention, edited by K Kramer, P-P Hoppe, and L Packer, 2001, 318 pages, hardcover, $150. Marcel Dekker, Inc, New York.

Department of Nutrition CB 7400 School of Public Health School of Medicine University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC 2759-7400 E-mail: steven_zeisel{at}unc.edu

This book attempts to provide an overview of the emerging area of nutraceuticals by presenting some basic concepts, recent research data, and perspectives on nutraceuticals related to health processes. The book provides chapters on vitamin E, S-adenosylmethionine, methyltetrahydrofolate, carotenoids, n-3 fatty acids, lipoic acid, creatine, plant phenols, carnitine, and conjugated linoleic acid. Nutraceutical has no legal meaning, but in the book it is defined as any substance derived from foods that provides health benefits. In the journal Science (1999;85:1853–5), I proposed that it would be better to define nutraceutical as a dietary supplement administered in large doses to obtain pharmacologic effects, as opposed to functional foods and supplements that deliver doses in amounts delivered by diets. No matter which definition is used, it is important to understand the scientific basis for nutraceuticals.

The authors present detailed discussions of the use of biomarkers to assess nutritional status, the potential toxicity of nutraceuticals, and the legal issues surrounding health claims. The book includes a short chapter on how to evaluate the different types of research data that are available, but the chapter is not complete enough to fully help the reader develop the process needed to assess newly emerging nutraceuticals. If complete, this chapter could have been one of the most important contributions of the book. The chapters on individual substances provide nice background information about the underlying science of nutraceuticals, and the data presented generally report positive effects associated with the use of nutraceuticals. Although much of the data presented in the book will be supplanted shortly by findings from new studies, the chapters in the book are reasonable reviews of the understanding of nutraceuticals circa 2000. Russell's contribution on carotenoids is especially good because it carefully considers the pros and cons of nutraceuticals in a balanced manner. In summary, this book serves as a nice starting place for developing a background in the science underlying nutraceuticals and would make a fine textbook as long as the instructors can appropriately balance the generally positive tone of the chapters.