Rauwolfia One of the most important native medicinal plants of India, the crude drug consists of the air-dried roots and rhizomes of Rauwolfia serpentina Benth (Apocynaceae). Synonymns Rauwolfia trifoliata (Gaertn.) Ophioxylon salutiferum Salisb. Ophioxylon obversum Miq. Ophioxylon serpeninum L. Rauwolfia obversa Miq. Common names English: Indian snake root, rauwolfia Sanskrit: Sarpagandha Hindi: Chotachand Tamil: Civanamelpodi Telugu: Paatala garuda
The simplest examples of functional foods are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. These offer life-essential vitamins and minerals and also an array of phytochemicals that may fight certain diseases. Most traditional diets incorporate a host of plant-derived articles under the guise of colouring or flavouring in effect actually adding a number of non-nutrient phytochemicals…
Overall health foods may be of three types.
Foods in general provide us either taste/convenience benefits or nutrition/enhancement utility. Food habits in several traditionally established cultures world over were largely dictated by the need for nutrition and energy. Fruits, leaves and other plant parts were essential components of diet in these societies and apart from being an energy source, food thus also included…
While on one side mounting evidence is demonstrating the benefits of health foods in disease prevention and health promotion, several safety concerns have been recently raised particularly with regard to the seemingly indiscriminate addition of botanicals to food. A plethora of cereals including rice, maize, wheat, jowar, and drinks, soups, teas, noodles and flours are…
Research results linking diet to disease reinforced by epidemiological studies establishing the same in several population studies of disease-free groups.
Many herbs have health benefits and millions of people have already resorted to the use of herbal medicines with the conviction that these being natural are effective and safer than standard medicines. Herbal additives have begun to appear in conventional foods ranging from teas, juices, snack chips, energy bars, etc. The size of this tremendous…
Health foods or functional foods have no universally accepted definition. Functional foods are those whole, fortified, enriched or enhanced foods that provide health benefits beyond provision of essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. They may do more than supply the macronutrients and micronutrients the body needs for normal biochemical reactions. Functional foods have bioactive components that can…
Cross-cultural comparisons and epidemiological studies form the basis for understanding the role of dietary factors in disease etiology. Research activities of nutritionists and food scientists have historically run parallel to those of phytochemists, pharmacognocists and natural product chemists. While vitamins, minerals, aminoacids, carbohydrates and lipids are compounds of primary interest to food chemists, natural product…
An ancient Siddha medicine dictum ‘Unave marundhu, marundhe unavu’ which means food as medicine, medicine as food, well reinforces the importance of diet for disease-free living. This ancient wisdom of our country seems to be lost in the folds of history with the adoption of western medical system as the more superior health care provider for…