Also, known as ‘bioceutical’, is a pharmaceutical alternative which claims physiological benefits. Nutraceuticals are products derived from food sources that are purported to provide extra health benefits, in addition to the basic nutritional value found in foods. Depending on the jurisdiction, products may claim to prevent chronic diseases, improve health, delay the aging process, increase life expectancy, or support the structure or function of the body.

Nutraceuticals are pharmaceutical forms such as Pills, Powders, Capsules, Vials, Gummies, Etc…, that contain bioactive compounds found in food as active principles. Bioactive phytochemicals have become a very significant source for ingredients in nutraceuticals, while the term nutraceutical may be relatively new people have been relying on their ingredients for hundreds of years.

• Hippocrates wrote that leaves and bark from a willow tree relieved pain and fevers which now has become a staple over-the-counter drug that we know as aspirin.
• Wolfberry fruit has been used since ancient times in China to protect the liver, improve vision, strengthen weak legs, and promote longevity.
• For hundreds of years the Plains Indians used Echinacea to treat poisonous insects and snake bites, tooth aches, sore throat, wounds, and communicable diseases such as mumps, smallpox, and measles. It was also used by the Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, Dakota, and Omaha tribes.

Fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods are rich in bioactive phytochemicals that may provide desirable health benefits beyond basic nutrition, to reduce the risk of the development of chronic diseases.

Flavonoids are a class of bio actives found in a variety of fruits which are shown to protect against cardiovascular disease and other age-related conditions.

Glucosinolates are bioactive compounds found in Brassica plants and especially in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli. Studies have shown that diets high in these foods are associated with a reduced risk of cancer and improved vascular health.

Isoprenoids are a class of natural plant products found in tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers which provide a rich source of high value bio actives for human uses ranging from antibiotics, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory agents.

Nutritional genomics aka Nutrigenomics is the study of how diet interacts with your genes and how individual genetic differences can affect your requirements and how you respond to vitamins, minerals, and compounds in the foods we eat. Everyone absorbs, metabolizes, and transports chemicals differently based on their genetic makeup; nutrigenomics unlocks this personal blueprint. 

Pharmacology is a branch of medicine and pharmaceutical sciences which is concerned with the study of drug or medication action, where a drug can be broadly or narrowly defined as any man-made, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemical or physiological effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or organism. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical functions. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals. Pharmacology, a biomedical science, deals with the research, discovery, and characterization of chemicals which show biological effects and the elucidation of cellular and organismal function in relation to these chemicals.

Natural compounds, even if isolated and concentrated are often comprised of sub-fractions that can contribute to a polypharmacology that does not fit the selectivity model.

In order to better predict the biological activity and potential interactivity of these multi-factorial natural medicinal agents the sub-fractions common to the natural extracts need to be studied individually as sequestered molecules and characterized in isolation. This compartmentalized information allows us to better understand the complex activity of the extract in its natural form but it also allows us an opportunity to splice out specific activity that is more selective for a desired membrane, cytoplasmic or nuclear target. With this information we gain the knowledge of the underpinnings for improved drug design with natural agents – the isolated fractions and/or their combinations.