The main difference between functional foods and nutraceuticals is that functional foods are the food with bioactive compounds such as beta-carotene, lycopene, resveratrol, ferulic acid, etc. whereas nutraceuticals are the bioactive compounds found in fortified food, dietary supplements or herbal products. Furthermore, functional foods have naturally-occurring bioactive compounds in the food while nutraceuticals can come as pills, capsules or liquids.

These two terms are often used interchangeably though there is a subtle difference between functional foods and nutraceuticals. Both of them contain health-promoting properties as well as disease-preventing and medicinal properties.

What are Functional Foods

Functional foods are foods that contain bioactive compounds naturally. Significantly, these foods can provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutritional value of the food. Here, the traditional nutrients refer to the regular vitamins and minerals found in that particular food. Generally, traditional nutrients are essential to the diet, and their deficiency causes classical nutrient deficiency diseases. That means; the functional foods contain a unique form of nutrient, which in turn promote the health.

In other words, vitamin C in orange prevents scurvy. On the other hand, vitamin D in sardine can alleviate rickets. However, both vitamin C and vitamin D are essential nutrients. Therefore, neither orange nor sardine becomes a functional food. For instance, soy protein has a function in reducing cardiovascular disease. But, since soy protein is not an essential nutrient in the diet, soy is a type of functional food. Likewise, red grapes containing phytochemical resveratrol, cranberry juice containing oligomeric proanthocyanidins, oat bran containing fiber, and barley containing beta-glucan are functional foods.

What are Nutraceuticals

Neutraceuticals are the bioactive compounds found in fortified food, dietary supplements, and herbal products. However, they are often defined synonymously with functional foods due to the presence of a specific nutrient in a particular food. Some examples of nutraceuticals in fortified food are the calcium fortified in orange juice and vitamin D fortified in milk.

Furthermore, nutraceuticals come in the form of dietary supplements as pills, capsules, tablets, and liquids. Vitamins, dietary minerals, proteins and amino acids, essential fatty acids, bodybuilding supplements, etc. are examples of nutrients in dietary supplements.