Health food is food considered to be beneficial to health in ways that go beyond a normal healthy diet required for human nutrition. Because there is no precise, authoritative definition from regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, different dietary practices can be considered healthy depending on context.
Foods considered "healthy" may be natural foods, organic foods, whole foods, and sometimes dietary supplements. Such products are sold in health food stores or in the health/organic sections of supermarkets. "Health food" may also refer to functional food that designed to address specific health concerns, such as the prevention of disease. Additionally, "health food" is sometimes used in contrast with "junk food", which may be high in calories but has little other nutritional value.
In the United States, health-related claims on nutrition facts labels are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while advertising is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. According to the FDA, "Health claims describe a relationship between a food, food component, or dietary supplement ingredient, and reducing risk of a disease or health-related condition".
In general, claims of health benefits for specific foodstuffs have not been evaluated by national regulatory agencies. Additionally, research funded by manufacturers or marketers that may form the basis of such marketing claims has been shown to result in more favorable results than independently funded research.
While there is no precise definition for "health food", the United States Food and Drug Administration has warned food manufacturers against labeling foods as being "healthy" when they have a high sugar, salt, or fat content.
Healthy food:
- Apple cider vinegar, a fruit vinegar that is sometimes considered a health food
- Broccoli sprouts
- Corn flakes, patented food invented in 1894
- Digestive biscuit, English baked good from 1851, containing fiber and sometimes sodium bicarbonate
- Graham cracker, 1829 cracker made with whole grain Graham flour
- Graham bread, a type of whole wheat bread
- Granola, a food made from mixed, toasted grains
- Granula, the first manufactured breakfast cereal, 1863
- Grape-Nuts, an American breakfast cereal made from baked and ground grain, 1897
- Herbal extract, plants, often medicinal that are concentrated and standardized
- Herbal teas
- Malt, whole sprouted barley
- Meat analogue, a dietary alternative
- Molasses, black strap molasses has been sold as a health food
- Muesli, breakfast cereal of rolled oats, fruit and nuts, made by a Swiss doctor, 1900
- Postum, a coffee alternative from 1895
- Shredded wheat, the whole wheat cereal from 1893
- Hybread 100% whole wheat bread made from dark green vegetables
- Yogurt, traditional cultured milk product
