How to safely consume health functional foods?

As the variety of health functional foods chosen for a healthier lifestyle increases, so does the amount consumed by consumers. While it's easy to overlook, eating health functional foods safely is also crucial for a healthy lifestyle. What should you keep in mind to ensure safe consumption of health functional foods?

Be sure to check the precautions for health functional foods

Due to the nature of the raw materials, children, pregnant or lactating women, the elderly, those with certain medical conditions, and those taking medications may require special caution. Health functional foods are labeled with "Precautions for Consumption" to provide safety information to consumers.

In particular, those receiving treatment for a specific condition or taking medication should always consult a doctor before taking health functional foods. Using food or health functional foods together without consulting a doctor may reduce the effectiveness of the medication or lead to nutrient deficiencies.

For example, caffeine-containing health functional foods, such as mate and green tea, may increase the risk of hypokalemia when taken with certain diuretics. While no serious side effects have been reported to date when taken together, those taking medication for specific conditions should always consult a physician before taking health functional foods.

Blind faith in the functions of health functional foods is dangerous.

Even if health functional foods are recognized for their functionality, they don't necessarily work equally well for everyone. Absorption and response rates vary widely from person to person. Furthermore, even with appropriate intake of health functional foods, it's difficult to expect noticeable improvements without lifestyle changes. For example, declining intestinal function is largely attributed to excessive meat consumption, frequent consumption of instant foods, drinking, and smoking.

Even if you take probiotic health functional foods, if you maintain a lifestyle that causes poor intestinal function, you will not be able to get the expected effects of taking probiotics.

Verification of advertising content is essential

Unlike pharmaceuticals, which are effective in treating diseases, health functional foods are functional foods that can help promote health and prevent disease. Therefore, it's important to carefully examine products that advertise or promote exaggerated claims of disease-fighting effectiveness. Furthermore, before making a purchasing decision, it's important to check for the "Health Functional Food" and "Good Health Functional Food Manufacturing Practice" certification marks on the product packaging.

​You can search for health functional foods on 'Food Safety Country' and check detailed information on function, raw material, health and nutrition.

We hope that you will consume health functional foods for a healthier and safer life.