Assessing Herbal Products with Health Claims
| Autor: | Andrew Worth, Petros Maragkoudakis, Jan Wollgast, Sandra Caldeira, Raymond Gemen, Silvia Lapenna |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
Herbal Medicine Herbal extracts Alternative medicine Models Biological Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Scientific evidence Health claims on food labels medicine Animals Humans media_common.cataloged_instance European Union Marketing European union health care economics and organizations media_common Mammals Plants Medicinal Traditional medicine business.industry Ecdysteroids General Medicine Consumer Product Safety Medicine Traditional Plant Preparations business Phytotherapy Food Science |
| Zdroj: | Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 55:1918-1928 |
| ISSN: | 1549-7852 1040-8398 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10408398.2012.726661 |
| Popis: | Herbs, herbal extracts, or phytochemicals are broadly used as foods, drugs, and as traditional medicines. These are well regulated in Europe, with thorough controls on both safety and efficacy or validity of health claims. However, the distinction between medicines and foods with health claims is not always clear. In addition, there are several cases of herbal products that claim benefits that are not scientifically demonstrated. This review details the European Union (EU) legislative framework that regulates the approval and marketing of herbal products bearing health claims as well as the scientific evidence that is needed to support such claims. To illustrate the latter, we focus on phytoecdysteroid (PE)-containing preparations, generally sold to sportsmen and bodybuilders. We review the limited published scientific evidence that supports claims for these products in humans. In addition, we model the in silico binding between different PEs and human nuclear receptors and discuss the implications of these putative bindings in terms of the mechanism of action of this family of compounds. We call for additional research to validate the safety and health-promoting properties of PEs and other herbal compounds, for the benefit of all consumers. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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