Don't Be Fooled By Functional Foods

Have you noticed how many foods are new and improved with "valued added" health-promoting nutrients? Is it worth paying more for these functional foods? Can you get too much of a good thing?

The term functional food means foods and beverages with extra fortification of a variety of nutrients. This can mean anything from vitamins in water to fiber in cereal bars, to yogurt with phytosterols to lower cholesterol.

Improvements on what mother nature puts in food can be a good thing. Foods can be either enriched or fortified and there's a difference. Enriched foods have nutrients added back into them that were lost in processing. Fortified foods have extra nutrients included that were never in the food to begin with.

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There are good and bad choices to be made, though. Steer clear of high priced waters with added vitamins - they're a waste of money and often contain many added calories. You might consider calcium fortified orange juice, to help boost your intake of calcium, a mineral that's a struggle for most of us.

While you want most of your fiber from fruits and whole grains, fiber fortified yogurt, cereals, and bars can help you get your intake to 25 grams a day. But read those labels, because fiber is turning up everywhere! Increase your fiber intake slowly, about 5 grams every few days, to avoid digestive upset. And don't exceed 35 daily grams.

While most of us don't get enough vitamin d from foods, if you consume dairy products, take a calcium plus vitamin d supplement, and a daily multiple vitamin, you might be getting much more than the 800 mg daily requirement. So, do your math when it comes to these fat soluble vitamins.

Functional foods can help support a healthy diet. But beware of getting too much of a good thing. When it comes to functional foods, more is not always better.