You’ve heard of Superfoods, but there is a new category of power-packed, nutritionally dense foods that are making their way mainstream. Functional foods are stepping up to a plate near you in a big way, and they’re here to revolutionize the way you view your food and challenge what “healthy” truly means.
Functional Foods, aka Nutraceuticals, are defined as: a food containing health-giving additives and having medicinal benefit.
In more digestible terms, functional foods react positively within your body when consumed, improving your health. It's food with a purpose and that purpose is increasing your body's ability to function.
We're often educated about the health benefits of consuming nutritious foods, but there is a gray area around what's healthy and why something is healthy. Currently, most people view "healthy" as the equivalent of "foods that keep you thin", but there is so much more to food than weight loss. Each food you consume, good or bad, plays a role within your body.
Food: The Source Code of the Body
The best way to explain how food functions within the body is by picturing your body as a giant computer. In order for a computer to perform the functions we expect, special code has to be entered that tells the computer what to do. When you put inaccurate code into a computer, it causes the computer to malfunction. The same principle applies to the foods that we eat.
Functional foods cause our bodies to perform optimally while poor nutrition-- full of trans fats and simple sugars--- cause poor performance by means of high blood pressure, heart disease, increased cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases, even increasing your risk of cancer.
ReGrained -- Making Food Functional
ReGrained's SuperGrain+ harnesses the power of functional foods, making these amazing health-benefits easily accessible to everyone. And ReGrained is going above and beyond to make sure that this functional food upgrade is available to you via collaboration with products you’ve already come to know and love including Bavaria Bay Pretzels, and The Pasta Shop (with even more coming down the pipeline).
Let’s get back to the numbers --- 2, 20g servings (two slices of bread, 1 serving of pasta, or 4 cookies) of ReGrained SuperGrain+ added to your daily intake provides:
48% of the DV of Magnesium
28% DV Iron
76% DV Maganese,
24% DV Phosphorus
20% DV Zinc
16% DV Plant-Based Protein
69% DV Prebiotic Dietary Fiber
And while this all sounds well and good, and we could throw other fancy terms at you like phytochemicals, omega-3 fatty acids and other scientifically sound beneficial effects of incorporating a functional food like ReGrained into your daily diet, why don't we break down the basic nutrition facts so you can see the health benefits for yourself? Sound good? Here we go!
ReGrained SuperGrain+ Flour Health Benefits Highlight Reel
Magnesium: Did You Know?
In the United States, approximately 68% of the population is Magnesium deficient. Magnesium is responsible for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body including but not limited to:
- Blood sugar regulation
- Balancing blood pressure
- Steady heartbeat
- Bone building
- DNA synthesis
And probably most importantly oxidative phosphorylation --- WHOA. What's this?
Simply put, Magnesium starts the process for our cells to derive nutrients from the foods that we eat to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is an energy compound that allows our muscles to contract so our bodies can move and fuels our ability to think. So going back to the staggering rate of Magnesium deficiency in the United States, no wonder we're so tired and experience brain fog in the afternoon. Our lack of this essential mineral is fueling coffee sales when what we really need to be doing is rethinking our whole-grains.
So in a word, ReGrained can improve your brain function through improved Magnesium intake. Magnesium also functions as the moderator for other minerals functioning within the body and has a direct impact on heart health. We actually can't live without it.
Ready for more functional properties? Let's move on!
Iron
10 million people in the United States are deficient in Iron. 10 million. And probably the most significant roles that Iron plays within the body is assisting in blood clotting, and even more important, it is responsible for the transfer of oxygen from our lungs through our blood and into our body tissues to sustain overall life function.
If this process is compromised, our body can't get enough oxygen, leaving us exhausted. The lack of iron also places us at risk for chronic diseases due to a compromised immune system.
In the role of replenishing iron stores, ReGrained functions better than a dietary supplement. When your daily intake from iron comes from a food source, it sets off a chemical reaction that supports higher absorption. This improves your body's ability to transport oxygen, clot the blood in case of emergency, and support a healthy immune system.
Yet another set of physiological benefits of consuming whole foods like ReGrained: improved oxygen transfer, blood clotting ability and a healthier immune system.
Ready for the next set of positive health effects? Drumroll please...
Maganese... Wait...
We know what you're thinking, but no, Maganese is not the same as Magnesium. Common mistake. Actually, Maganese is more biochemically similar to Iron, but with additional benefits. If we were to hone in one of the most important functions that this mineral plays in the body, it would be heart health.
The beneficial effects of consuming maganese through functional foods are found in the role it plays in synthesizing (breaking down) fats, carbohydrates and cholesterol. When our body is inefficient at engaging in this process because of deficiency, it can cause high cholesterol levels which places the body at risk for chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or worse.
Reduce your risk of heart disease with ReGrained. Sounds catchy huh? But in all honesty, the health benefits of incorporating a whole grain like this into your diet on a regular basis could very well address some important needs of your body, without having to add another dietary supplement to your daily routine. ReGrained's benefits are all-inclusive!
Zinc
One more mineral left to cover in our food science lesson on the scientific evidence of how functional foods have major health effects and why you should be consuming more of them. Zinc is an interesting compound that plays a huge role in both immunity and periods of growth in the human body. Because it is responsible for cell growth and division it plays a vital part in our ability to heal. When we cut ourselves and our bodies go to work on repairing and or replacing the injured tissue, you guessed it, that's Zinc, hard at work.
Zinc consumption is crucial during significant periods of growth through our lives. Without it, we won’t be able to reach our highest potential.
Because the main purpose of Zinc has to do with cell division and growth, if we are Zinc deficient during times of growth (think infancy, budding teenager, pregnancy), then our ability to grow is inhibited.
You know we're gonna mention it, that functional food that has over 60% of the Daily Value for Zinc set forth by the Food and Drug Administration--- it's a whole grain.
By adding ReGrained's SuperGrain+ to your routine on a regular basis, you are ensuring that your body has the ability to grow and heal as it should by consuming more Zinc!
Think about the impact this little switch can have on bite-sized picky eaters? Toddlers? Teenagers? You get the jist.
Eat Up! It's Good for You, AND the Planet
We know you've been to science class and there's a lot to think about. But one thing you don't need to put too much thought into is improving your health by consuming more functional foods. Why? Because ReGrained already did for you.
Chantelle Pape is a content writer and Nutrition Science grad who specializes in all things pertaining to the food and beverage industry. Her passion is to help companies craft a laser-focused message to educate their desired audience on the benefits of their products. She personally considers it a plus when her work contributes to the improvement of public health. To connect, please send an email to: chantellempape@gmail.com