ABSTRACT
Nutraceutical is an amalgam of ‘nutrition’ and ‘pharmaceutical.’ In broad, nutraceutical is a part of food that plays a major role in maintaining and modifying the physiological function of human health. The human gut is inhabitant with a group of bacterial species which create metabolic and immune function that has an enormous impact on host health and gut health. Intact gastrointestinal barrier maintains the equilibrium of microbiota, protect pathogen infection, and prevent tissue injury that may lead to many diseases. Disruption to the balance of microbial composition (known as Dysbiosis) could lead to many diseases. Dietary bioactive components such as probiotics, prebiotics, polyphenols, phytoestrogens, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) play a beneficial role in maintaining the host and gut health. The beneficial effects of prebiotics rely on the composition of gut microbiota and the fermented products like short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which have diverse biological roles. The bioavailability of polyphenols depends on the transformation of the gut microbiota composition. Phytoestrogens include isoflavonoids, flavonoids, and anthocyanins get absorbed by gut microbial species that have high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and 180antiestrogenic effects on host and gut health. Moreover, PUFAs (omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid) influence immune regulation, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, blood pressure and cardiovascular function in humans and animals. However, probiotics inhibit antibiotic associated diarrhea (AAD) in children and phytoestrogens may also protect against pathogenic bacteria and stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria. This chapter focuses on the close association and interaction between nutraceuticals and gut microbiota and the after-effects of this interaction in human and gut health.
