FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES
By Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND
Q:
My clients are asking about new functional beverages on
the market that tout various health benefits, particularly for
brain and immune health. Is there any legitimacy to these claims?
A:
As health-conscious consumers turn away from carbonated
and sugary drinks, many companies have responded with
functional beverages boasting nutrients and compounds marketed
as being health promoting. While some of these beverages offer
a few potentially beneficial ingredients, many make unfounded
claims about lesser-studied compounds. Functional beverages
come with a wide array of health claims, but this article focuses
on those with supposed benefits for brain and immune health.
Definition and Popularity
There’s no formal FDA regulatory category or legal defini-
tion for functional foods and beverages, so these products are
regulated as conventional foods, dietary supplements, food for
special dietary uses, medical foods, or drugs, depending on
their intended use and nature of the manufacturers’ claims.^1 The
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics defines functional foods as
both whole and fortified/enriched foods that may benefit health
when they’re consumed as part of a healthful diet, regularly and
at levels high enough to impact health, and are rooted in signif-
icant evidence.^2 Without a legal definition for the “functional”
label, as with supplements, consumers are left to evaluate evi-
dence for claims themselves.
In spite of the lack of regulation, the functional food industry
is booming, especially functional beverages, which are expected
to emerge as the fastest-growing product segment in the global
nonalcoholic beverage category between 2018 and 2025.^3
Brain Health
Functional beverage companies such as BrainGear, Brain Juice,
and Synapse Natural Cognitive Boost typically claim their drinks
boost mental performance and optimize memory function, focus,
and mental clarity. The functional ingredients added to bever-
ages vary from brand to brand; in the aforementioned brands, 12
functional ingredients are used in varying amounts. One ingre-
dient that appears often for brain health is choline, which has
been linked to better cognitive function in numerous studies.^4
However, others, such as acetyl-L-carnitine, have weaker evi-
dence—acetyl-L-carnitine has been linked to improved learning
capacity only in aging rats.^5
In addition to the inconsistency of functional ingredients listed
between brands touting the same health improvement, there’s little
or no scientific evidence on the health consequences of the com-
bination of these functional ingredients (sometimes 10 or more).Immune Support
According to Mintel, launches of functional beverages claiming
to benefit the immune system increased 23% between 2013 and
2 017.^6 Products include CORE Organic, Blossom Water, Nootra
Life, and Medlie Immunity Shot. Vitamin C, or foods that contain
vitamin C, and probiotics tend to be common ingredients in many
functional beverages boasting immune support, but functional
ingredients differ between brands.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the results
of controlled studies on vitamin C and its support against the
common cold have been inconsistent.^7 There’s a positive rela-
tionship between probiotics and immune health, but research
is still emerging.8,Recommendations for Clients
With a vast array of functional beverages available, variable
ingredient lists, and lack of regulation, it’s tough for both con-
sumers and RDs to wade through the claims. RDs should advise
clients that, although some evidence may exist for the health
benefits of individual ingredients in these beverages, the ingre-
dients’ collective effect hasn’t been studied. If clients are intent
on drinking functional beverages for potential health outcomes,
practitioners should consider the interactions ingredients may
have with clients’ medications and/or health conditions.— Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND,
is the founder of Toby Amidor Nutrition
(http://tobyamidornutrition.com) and a Wall
Street Journal best-selling author. Her four
cookbooks are Smart Meal Prep for Beginners,
The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook, The
Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook, and The Greek
Yogurt Kitchen. She’s a nutrition expert for
FoodNetwork.com and a contributor to U.S. News Eat + Run,
Muscle&Fitness.com, and Shape.com.ASK THE EXPERT
For references, view this article on
our website at http://www.TodaysDietitian.com.
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or send a tweet to @tobyamidor.august 2019 http://www.todaysdietitian.com 7