ABSTRACT
A nutraceutical is a food with additional health advantages beyond its basic nutritional content that helps in the prevention and treatment of disease(s) and other disorders (excluding anaemia). Due to their potential for having nutritional, safe, and therapeutic impacts, nutraceuticals have recently attracted a lot of attention. Concerning metabolic syndrome, the size of the global nutraceuticals market has expanded and is estimated to flourish between 2022 and 2030. This is because of its easy availability, easy access, tolerability, and cost-effectiveness, nevertheless considering the broad range of safety. Previous studies have reported that it has been proven that the majority of nutraceuticals have antioxidant activity that can help prevent adverse conditions. Hence, they are regarded as beneficial sources for promoting health, particularly in terms of preventing fatal diseases like diabetes, infections, renal disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders. However, some nutraceuticals are safe, while others do possess toxic potential. There are a large number of nutraceuticals for which toxicity and safety data are not available, owing to a lack of clinical trials, and pharmacological and toxicological studies. Some nutraceuticals’ safety may be jeopardised by contamination with poisonous organisms, metals, mycotoxins, illicit drugs, etc. Despite their popularity, the health benefits of dietary supplements are questionable. Compared to pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals’ toxic characteristics have not been thoroughly investigated. In actuality, the argument that dietary supplements and nutraceuticals are harmful is weak. Therefore, we thoroughly study the toxic characteristics of nutraceuticals in this chapter and draw a conclusion in it.
