Nutrition and Complementary Health Terms

Food is judged by what the body can pull out of it: energy, building blocks, and the trace substances that keep reactions running.

The chain runs from appetite through digestion to absorption, and illness can break it at any single point along the way.

Structured sessions with a trained professional that translate a medical condition into practical decisions about eating.

Sold as a food rather than as a medicine in many countries, which changes what a maker must demonstrate before a product reaches a shelf.

A nutrient in the vitamin B complex that the body needs in small amounts to function and stay healthy.

A plant whose roots are used as a sedative and to treat certain medical conditions.

Pantothenic acid, or vitamin B5, is a water soluble nutrient the body needs to build coenzyme A and process food into energy.

A nutrient in the vitamin B complex that the body needs in small amounts to function and stay healthy.

Nourishment arrives already broken down and ready for the bloodstream, which is why the intestine can be bypassed for months or years.

A neutral word for plant chemistry, covering pigments and flavors that may help, others that do nothing, and a few that are poisons.

A plant-based compound that can compete with dietary cholesterol to be absorbed by the intestines, resulting in lower blood cholesterol levels.

The active ingredient in cholesterol-lowering spreads, backed by a measurable drop in LDL but not by proof of fewer heart attacks.

A vast family of plant compounds behind bitterness, astringency and some plant colors, and among the most studied parts of the diet.

A tart red juice studied mostly for its plant polyphenols, with laboratory findings that human trials have not matched.

Strain is everything here, since evidence gathered for one probiotic organism does not carry over to a different organism in a different product.

Seed husks that soak up water and turn stool into a soft gel, working by physics rather than by prodding the bowel.

A prairie wildflower turned cold remedy, and a case study in why trials of an herb disagree when every preparation differs.

Because pyridoxine is water soluble, the body does not store large reserves of it, making regular dietary intake necessary to prevent deficiency.

A nutrient that the body needs in small amounts to function and stay healthy.

An herb native to islands in the South Pacific.