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New food components and gastrointestinal health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

Ian T. Johnson
Ian T. Johnson*
Affiliation:
Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, Norfolk, UK
*
Corresponding Author: Professor I. T. Johnson, fax +44 1603 255167, email ian.johnson@bbsrc.ac.uk
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Abstract

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Apart from its main functions of digestion, absorption and faecal processing, the human gastrointestinal tract has a complex pattern of muscular activity regulated by a largely autonomous nervous system, and its various organs contain large concentrations of immune and endocrine tissues. Any failure of these closely-integrated systems can lead to diseases ranging from the mildly irritating to the life threatening. Food contains a huge variety of chemical species, many of which are biologically active, and the distal regions of the gut are colonised by a rich and metabolically-active commensal flora that depend on nutrients derived ultimately from the host’s dietary residues. The present paper explores the evidence for significant effects of food ingredients on functional bowel disorders, intestinal infections, and aspects of epithelial cell physiology involved in the development of colo-rectal neoplasia. Various strategies, including the manipulation of the colo-rectal microflora with pre- and probiotics, and the development of new products and plant varieties containing biologically-active constituents, have the potential to underpin the development of novel functional food products. However, these products will need to be based on proven biological principles, and fully tested for efficacy and safety. The rapidly-developing fields of functional genomics and cell biology will open up new experimental strategies to explore these possibilities, and emerging processing technologies seem likely to provide novel methods for their exploitation.

Keywords

Functional foodsDietGut microfloraIrritable bowel syndromeColo-rectal cancer
Type
Symposium on ‘Nutritional effects of new processing technologies’
Information
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society , Volume 60 , Issue 4 , November 2001 , pp. 481 - 488
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2001

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