New eating habits, actual trends in production and consumption have a healyh, environmental and social impact. The EU is fighting diseases characteristics of a modern age, such as obesity, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, allergies and dental problems. Developed countries are also faced with problems relatingto aging populations, high energy foods, and unbalanced diets. The potential of nutraceuticals/functional foods/food supplements in mitigating health problems, especially in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, is discused. Certain members of gut microflora (e.g., probiotic/protective strains) play a role in the host health due to its involvment in nutritional, immunologic and physiologic functions. The potential mechanisms by which nutraceuticals/functional foods/food supplements may alter a host\u27s health arealso highlighted in this paper. The establishment of novel functional call models of the GI and analytical tools that allow tests in controlled experiments are highly desired for gut research.
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