Alicament: nm A food (portmanteau of "food" and "drug") is a food combining the concept of food and drug within the framework of a functional diet. It is supposed to reduce the risks or prevent the onset of certain diseases, using substances contained in a commonly consumed food. The terms “food”, “medicinally” or “nutraceutical” are neologisms of the food industry. Alicament seems however mainly used in France; in Canada, in particular, the term has been replaced by “functional food”.
Among the most common foods are:
- Foods enriched with omega-3
- Foods intended to regulate transit ("active Bifidus" and others).
- Some fermented milk to drink contains, in addition to the two traditional ferments of yogurt, a specific probiotic which would contribute to the good balance of the intestinal flora (Yakult or Actimel).
These health claims coming from the food industry, it is possible to doubt their veracity, in particular concerning the superiority of these foods over other more traditional ones (a simple yogurt or a cheese). And, although scientific studies leading to the manufacture of drugs are serious and well established, the drugs escape all the controls that a drug undergoes before and after it is placed on the market.
Some plants are natural foods. In fact, in addition to the concept of “health ingredient”, there is a second definition of the medicinal product. The medicinal product would be a “totum” food endowed with a global scientific claim recognized by an official food safety or health body. Thus AFSSA (French Food Safety Agency) recognized in 2004 the claim concerning the beneficial effects of cranberry juice on urinary tract infections.
Garlic and its main active principle: allicin and its sulfur elements are also supposed to greatly facilitate breathing in asthmatics thanks to their mucolytic (allowing to thin the mucus) and mucocynetic (allowing to expectorate the mucus) properties.