Medical Food Supplements

Being dietitians, we try as much as possible to provide nutrition interventions that will assist our clients in managing severe medical conditions and make the most of their health and wellbeing. Our rapidly advancing knowledge of nutrition science has permitted us to meet these objectives in ways that were unimaginable over a couple of years ago. One of the major important additions to the dietitian’s arsenal of remedial tools has been the advent of medical food supplements, nutritional products created particularly for the dietary management of ailment.

The concept of a medical food may evoke pictures of arcane home remedies or weird dietary regimens. Be that as it may, medical food supplements are uniquely manufactured products characterized and managed by the FDA as follows:
• Medical foods are not general foods. They’re orally used dietary products created for managing diseases for which particular nutritional prerequisites have been set up.

• Medical foods are not medications or dietary supplements and are supervised independently by the FDA.
• All the useful claims for medical food supplements must be founded on scientific principles and sound laboratory and clinical information.
• Medical foods must have components assigned as Generally Regarded as Safe.
• Ingredients in medical foods must be listed on the product label in descending order of content.
• Medical foods can only be utilized under medical supervision

History and Background          

The utilization of medical food supplements began in the 1940s when equations comprising of whey protein, lipids and sugar were dispensed to convalescing elderly patients in hospitals and nursing homes, as indicated by Bruce P. Bennett, executive of medical education, scientific and administrative undertakings at Primus Pharmaceuticals in Scottsdale, Arizona (composed correspondence, February 20, 2012). The first economically created medical food debuted in the late 1960s with the presentation of Lofenalac, a new formula made by Mead Johnson to cure the intrinsic error of metabolism phenylketonuria (PKU).

Medical food supplements were characterized and managed as medications until the passage of the Orphan Drug Act of 1983, which stated them as uniquely defined blends of supplements and phytochemicals to be utilized under doctor supervision. Medical foods, per Bennett, frequently are created and conveyed to market by pharmaceutical organizations, yet do not have to be approved or registered by the FDA.

Medical foods are utilized only under medical supervision, patients do not need a prescription to get them.  Numerous healthcare specialists including dietitians right now utilize them in their practices under a doctor’s supervision.

Note that medical foods can’t counteract or cure sickness; they are to manage the course of an ailment, as indicated by Bennett.

Medical Food Supplements versus Dietary Supplements and Nutraceuticals

Medical foods are many times mistaken for dietary supplements and nutraceuticals. They are altogether different and work for different needs. Dietary supplements are expected to improve wellbeing among healthy grown-ups and comprise of vitamins, minerals, or herbs and botanicals. Nutraceuticals are supplements, foods, or aspect of foods that give medical advantages and fight illness. Like dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, medical foods are made out of blends of minerals, vitamins, and botanicals, yet they’re defined particularly to take care of nutritional insufficiencies that influence the progression of an illness.

Current Marketplace

Since the presentation of Lofenalac, the utilization of medical food supplements has developed consistently to incorporate different items for the treatment of sicknesses and ailments that have a nutritional link. These involve severe conditions, for example, cardiovascular infection, diabetes, and osteoporosis; inherent mistakes of digestion; mitochondrial ailment; wound recuperating; pain treatment; gastrointestinal condition; and neurological and psychological disorder, for example, Alzheimer’s illness and depression. Medical foods are made for treating children and grown-up use and are accessible in different forms, including, tablets, fluids, capsules, powders, and bars. They might be of a specific mixture of macronutrients, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and botanicals or made out of a single supplement. Besides, today’s medical foods are considerably more tasteful than the metabolic recipes of the past.

Here is a short outline of a portion of the ailments and conditions for which medical foods are utilized and their clinical effectiveness.

Natural Errors of Metabolism

There are various natural errors of digestion that must be kept under control with the intervention of nutrition. These involve amino acid and protein metabolism, which are one of the most commonly experienced in the clinical setting. They require long-lasting dietary administration from the beginning, with accentuation on giving enough nutrition for development and growth. The control of these conditions concentrates on limiting or disposing of usage of particular amino acids and additionally limiting dietary protein.

PKU is the most widely recognized amino acid digestion disorder. Medical foods made to treat PKU frequently are utilized in combination with reasonably limited PKU diets in light of reduced usage of protein and phenylalanine. These products are overwhelmingly made up of large neutral amino acids LNAAs that contends with phenylalanine and hinder its immersion in the gut. LNAAs involve methionine, tyrosine, threonine, tryptophan, leucine valine, histidine, and isoleucine. A common medical food dosage made use of in treating PKU comprises 0.41 g of protein equal to 1 kg of body weight.

Treatment with a medical food that has LNAAs was discovered to essentially lessen both plasma and brain concentrations of phenylalanine between patients with PKU in a twofold visually impaired clinical review carried out in seven metabolic treatment centers in the United States, South America, and Europe. Although the partakers didn’t stick to the phenylalanine-restricted eating routine, their blood phenylalanine levels declined by 39% after a week of treatment. These discoveries propose that LNAA treatment might be helpful in controlling PKU notwithstanding when dietary consistency is poor.

Supplements of medical foods likewise have been created for controlling other amino acids digestion conditions, for example, leucinemia, maple syrup pee ailment, tyrosinemia, glutaric acidemia, homocystinuria and urea cycle conditions.

Metabolic Syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease, and Type 2 Diabetes

Medical food supplements utilized for treating a metabolic disorder, cardiovascular infection and type 2 diabetes are intended to enhance lipid profiles and glucose levels, fight insulin resistance and bolster ideal changes in body composition (i.e., increased lean body mass). These products generally have a low glycemic index and regularly comprise a folic acid, soy fiber, and vitamin B6, supplements that help regulate serum homocysteine levels, a known dangerous factor for cardiovascular sickness.

For more information on this and other medical conditions, drugs to treat and pricing please contact us at Rx Oasis 813-677-6000 or 813-570-7194