Typically, the term nutraceutical is used for supplements and applied to products derived from foods but believed to provide additional health benefits beyond those of the basic essential nutrients. | Photo: The Horse Staff

A: Stephen DeFelice, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation Medicine, coined the term nutraceutical in 1989. The blending of two words, “nutrient” (defined as a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life) and “pharmaceutical” (defined as a medicinal drug), was originally used for human supplements, but the term has become very broadly applied and crossed over in to the field of animal supplements. DeFelice’s original definition was “a food (or part of a food) that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and/or treatment of a disease.”

Typically, the term nutraceutical is used for supplements and applied to products derived from foods but believed to provide additional health benefits beyond those of the basic essential nutrients. The goal being to improve general well-being and potentially control symptoms or clinical signs, and possibly even prevent unfavorable conditions. So in the horse world, joint supplements are an obvious choice for this terminology; we feed ingredients such as glucosamine and chondroitin derived from what are considered food sources with the aim of improving joint function.

In theory, this all sounds fabulous. However, the term has no regulatory definition and, as you’ve pointed out, can mean different things to different people. This leaves the door open for consumer confusion, because in reality “nutraceutical” is more of a marketing term than anything else. Often consumers have the false perception that “all natural medicines must be good”; however, this isn’t always the case