functional food

Among the neologisms in the field of nutrition that have entered the lay vocabulary are the synonyms "designer food," "functional food," and "nutraceutical." These expressions, as well as "pharmafood," refer to foods whose constituents include naturally occurring compounds that (a) are customarily considered neither nutrients nor toxins and (b) may contribute to preventing or curing disease. Related expressions include "medical food," "nutrichemical," "optimum food," "phytochemical," "phytomin," "phytonutrient," and "therapeutic food." But common usage has created a definitional morass: