Establishing health benefits of bioactive food components: a basic research scientist’s perspective

• This review illustrates a scientist’s view on the limitations of dietary research.
• Bioactive food components, lack credible science to acknowledge their health claim.
• Multiple variables should be taken into account when conducting a dietary study.
• Extrapolation from in vitro/animal model to humans should be exercised with caution.
• Dietary recommendation is feasible after careful review of science-based research.

Bioactive food components or functional foods have recently received significant attention because of their widely touted positive effects on health beyond basic nutrition. However, a question continues to lurk: are these claims for ‘super foods’ backed by sound science or simply an exaggerated portrayal of very small ‘benefits’? Efforts to establish health benefits by scientific means pose a real challenge in regards to defining what those benefits are, as well as how effective the foods are in justifying any health claim. This review discusses the pitfalls associated with the execution, interpretation, extrapolation of the results to humans and the challenges encountered in the dietary research arena from a basic scientist’s perspective.

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