ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

To read the full abstract: Food & Function 2018;9:1944-1966

"Functional foods" are foods that have a potentially positive effect on health beyond basic nutrition. Oatmeal is a familiar example of a functional food as it contains soluble fiber that can lower cholesterol levels. Foods are often modified to have health benefits, for example fortified orange juice with calcium to improve bone health.

The term “superfood” has become a buzzword in the language of food and health; this is mostly perpetuated by marketing efforts. Search queries in Google of the top volume U.S. food trend health benefits show a year-on-year growth. Superfood is a non-medical term popularized in the media to refer to a nutrient dense food that may have health-promoting properties such as reducing risk of disease or improving any aspect of physical or emotional health. So-called superfoods may have an unusually high content of antioxidants, vitamins, or other nutrients. This review aimed to provide data based on controlled human intervention studies that examined the impact of superfood items on parameters related to the MetS. Of note, as of 2007, the marketing of products as "superfoods" is prohibited in the European Union unless accompanied by a specific authorized health claim supported by credible scientific research. Nevertheless, this review is interesting, and includes details of the ingredients in each item (such as anthocyanidins, flavonoids, alpha-linoleic acid), the participants in the studies (healthy, females only, obese, etc.) and the effects on the measured outcomes. In general, the tested superfoods showed only limited evidence for effects on MetS parameters.