The Bioactives Committee seeks to expand the quality of evidence linking health-promoting dietary components with health outcomes and advance translation into dietary guidance by promoting quality research, supporting evidence-based scientific reviews, and partnering with health authorities as they translate science broadly into recommendations for public health benefit.

What are Bioactives?                  Bioactives are constituents in foods, other than those to meet basic nutritonal needs, that are responsble for a change in human health. 

Why is this important?

Science points to the health benefits of food components beyond traditionally accepted “essential” nutrients, yet there is no framework around which to base dietary guidance. It is critical to understand the level of bioactive intake that produces a health effect. The committee is developing guidelines to promote the appropriate methods and terminology when designing and reporting flavonoid research. Harmonization in the literature is critical to building the evidence body needed to support dietary guidance.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
GSK
Herbalife Nutrition​
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
Ex-Officio: Florida Department of Citrus

ACADEMIC ADVISORS
John Erdman, PhD, University of Illinois
Johanna Dwyer, DSc, RD, Tufts Medical Center

GOVERNMENT LIAISON
Janet Novotny, PhD, US Department of Agriculture

Join Us!

Perspective: Framework For Developing Recommended Intakes Of Bioactive Dietary Substances

Access the bioactives Framework publication and infographic summary here.

asn-logo

This framework is endorsed by ASN.

Projects Supported by the Committee:

Standing Committee on Bioactive Recommendations

Recommending a quantified intake of flavan-3-ols promote heart health

Updating USDA Food Composition Databases with Common Data Elements on Flavonoids

Flavan-3-ols and Cardiovascular Disease Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Lutein/Zeaxanthin and Eye Health Visual Function Evidence Map and Systematic Review

Publications

Filter

Flavan-3-ols and Cardiometabolic Health: First Ever Dietary Bioactive Guideline

Advances in Nutrition, 2023

Dietary bioactives are food substances that promote health but lack quantified intake recommendations because they are not characterized as essential to prevent well characterized deficiency conditions. A newly released guideline by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends the quantity of flavan-3-ols to help adults maintain cardiovascular health. The recommendation translates evidence from a comprehensive systematic evidence review by Raman et al. using the AND guideline development process and applying a recently released (ASN endorsed) framework for developing recommended intakes of bioactive substances. The quantified recommended intake of flavan-3-ols to promote cardiovascular health is the culmination of grants provided by IAFNS to support the evidence review, framework development, and finally the independent AND guideline development process and publication. Please contact IAFNS if your professional health organization is interested in translating evidence for additional dietary bioactives.

Read more about Flavan-3-ols and Cardiometabolic Health: First Ever Dietary Bioactive Guideline

The Association Between Macular Pigment Optical Density and Visual Function Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Eye - Springer Nature, 2020

A systematic evidence review links the lutein/zeaxanthin-rich macular pigment in retinal eye tissue with visual function. This is an important part of the overall process to quantify recommended intakes of the lutein/zeaxanthin for good health among the general public.

Read more about The Association Between Macular Pigment Optical Density and Visual Function Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

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    [is_trackback] => 
    [is_home] => 
    [is_privacy_policy] => 
    [is_404] => 
    [is_embed] => 
    [is_paged] => 
    [is_admin] => 
    [is_attachment] => 
    [is_singular] => 
    [is_robots] => 
    [is_favicon] => 
    [is_posts_page] => 
    [is_post_type_archive] => 
    [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 0fdfc93493b8bdabc8395e6a8fd14ae7
    [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => 
    [thumbnails_cached] => 
    [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => 
    [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => 
    [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array
        (
            [0] => query_vars_hash
            [1] => query_vars_changed
        )

    [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array
        (
            [0] => init_query_flags
            [1] => parse_tax_query
        )

)