Nutrition for health promotion: phytochemicals, functional foods, and alternative approaches to combat obesity.

Functional foods are a new area of interest because of their potential health benefits. Functional foods may contain significant levels of biologically active components that impart health benefits when consumed in optimal serving sizes. Phytochemicals are components of plants that convey healthful properties beyond their use as macronutrients or micronutrients. Scientists have identified thousands of phytochemicals in vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, and other plant sources. Even though the consumption of fat has steadily decreased over the past decade as Americans have became a fat-phobic society, body weight has continued to rise. Health professionals need to consider options or alternatives to the only recommendation currently being offered (ie, low-fat, low-calorie, portion-controlled diets) because the obesity problem is not being solved with current methods and recommendations. A new paradigm is needed. The controlled-carbohydrate diet is one viable alternative dietary approach. There also is emerging evidence to show that lipid profiles improve on a controlled-carbohydrate diet.