ABSTRACT
We live in an era where technology is rapidly advancing in many aspects of our daily lives, running the gamut from the latest feats of architectural engineering to cutting-edge smart phones and electronics, from the astronomical achievement of sending automated probes into deep space, to medical breakthroughs right here on terra œrma. So it comes as no surprise that over the decades of scientiœc achievements in biology and nutrition, scientists today have seemingly developed a fundamental grasp of the most rudimentary nutritional requirements for the maintenance of basic human health and survival. However, as our understanding of human physiology faces constant evolution, there continues to be a commensurate development of nutritional sciences involving strategies designed to manipulate human physiology beyond that of merely providing basic daily nourishment. Nutritionists and health professionals are unraveling the beneœcial role of proper nutrition, including the incorporation of nutraceuticals and health foods in disease prevention and health promotion, and this is facilitating an increase in the number of nutrition and functional food companies in the United States and globally (Bagchi, 2006).
