Nutraceutical Definition

Nutraceutical: Originally, nutraceutical was defined as any substance from dietary ingredients that could yield health benefits. Today, the word’s meaning has been expanded to include purified agents from many sources, including botanical (plant) sources. A nutraceutical tends to have higher concentrations of the agent than are commonly found in nature, and therefore more potent effect. Generally, the intensity of a nutraceutical’s effect on the body is somewhere between that of a supplement and a pharmaceutical. While pharmaceuticals – usually purely synthetic agents – are assumed to be fast acting, nutraceuticals can take a little longer to build up in the system and produce their full effect (usually a week or more).