Sometimes referred to as "designer foods" or “nutraceuticals,” today’s so-called functional foods are seeing an uptick in popularity as more Brits look to their diets as the primary means of living a healthier, happier life. We can see this in America as well, where one third of every dollar spent on food and beverages is driven by the country’s desire to look and feel better.
Suddenly, it appears the old expression “you are what you eat” is one to be taken quite literally.
And doesn’t it all make perfect sense?
After all, the food we choose to put in our bodies has a profound impact on how we feel throughout the day. Personal trainers tell us that our dietary choices heavily influence how well we perform our job duties, and even what kind of effort we put into the relationships we have with people.
In other words, if fitness and mental wellness are goals that you have, then personal trainers would have us believe that functional foods are worth considering.
The trick to understanding how to include more of these foods in our diet and enjoying the benefits they offer is to first identify what it is that makes them so attractive over other foods.
What are Functional Foods?
The internet is rife with content promoting certain foods as a panacea for an array of afflictions ranging from depression to weight control to digestion issues. No surprise there.
Unfortunately, not every post on social media is fact-checked before it’s published.
So, here’s the real deal - functional foods can be the secret health hack in your life to accelerate your weight loss efforts, but personal trainers say they can also have a positive impact on our moods and make us more productive.
So, what is it about these foods that make them so unique? What makes them so…functional?
The first step to understanding functional foods is to understand that they’re really just simple, everyday foods that offer much more value than the vital nutrients that our bodies need. The fact that these foods offer these added benefits is what escalates them to the “functional” category. They’re nutrient-rich foods that improve our mental cognition, strengthen our immune systems, and can even slow the aging process.
To be clear, foods become “functional” when they offer benefits far beyond their nutritional value alone. And today, they’re emerging as the cornerstone of the strategy that personal trainers are using to help clients live happier, healthier, even longer lives!
Examples of Functional Foods
Functional foods often are very high in the vital nutrients that our bodies crave like vitamins, fiber, healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids, and essential minerals.
Examples include:
Fruits: Oranges, apples, strawberries, cranberries, and other common fruits are all exceptionally rich in fiber and vital nutrients, but the berries are the real stars of the show. Berries contain powerful antioxidant benefits that are hugely effective in protecting our cells from damage which contributes to our overall sense of well-being.
Veggies: Leafy greens like kale, spinach, and romaine lettuce offer nutrients that improve oral health and protect us from chronic diseases.
Nuts: Cashews, almonds, and peanuts aren’t just a fantastic source of protein, they also offer fiber and healthy fats that our bodies need for optimum functionality. The real beauty of these nuts is that many manufacturers make them available in butter or milk forms, making them more adaptable in our diets.
Seafood: Tuna, salmon, and whitefish are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and zinc. All of which can give our skin a healthy glow and boost our immune system.
Whole Grains: Oats, brown rice, and wheat bread are all vital sources of fiber that can be beneficial if weight loss is one of your goals. Whole grains are also loaded with vital nutrients like potassium, magnesium, and vitamin E that can strengthen our muscles.
Functional Foods for Weight Loss
Frankly, if you’ve made weight loss or burning fat a wellness goal for 2025, you may be pleasantly surprised by how much more successful you can be at sticking to a restrictive diet when your focus is on adding functional foods rather than focusing on foods you think you ought to eliminate. Instead of cutting out and/or restricting so-called “bad” foods in our diet, personal trainers say we can be more successful in achieving our weight loss goals if we just focus more on adding these functional foods, especially the ones that are rich sources of protein.
Today we’re seeing more fitness professionals throughout England integrating functional foods into their clients’ dieting strategy to help them to not only lose extra weight, but also to help them reach new levels of mental wellness.
Functional Foods for Mental Health
Over 90% of adults in the UK report experiencing "high or extreme levels of pressure or stress at some point in 2024”, according to a recent report from Mental Health UK.
Fortunately, functional foods can play a major role in our stress management efforts. For example, one study reveals that eating a diet that’s rich in functional foods like the fruits and vegetables mentioned above can eliminate stress, and all it takes is about 2 cups per day!
Consider for a moment the popularity of herbal tea. Almost 80% of Brits drink tea because they say it helps them de-stress!
But functional foods offer much more than simple stress management. There is plenty of research showing a direct connection between optimal brain functionality and a healthy diet. People who eat a diet rich in functional foods have shown profound improvements in their mental health and cognitive functions not to mention the increase in the “grey matter” occurring in our brains, which is often associated with higher intelligence.
Conclusion
The popularity of functional foods as a mechanism to help people lead healthier, happier lives has caused the industry to swell to over $280B in value. As functional foods become more desirable, more food and drink manufacturers are rapidly moving to rebrand their products to meet this newest dynamic in consumer demand.
Frankly, functional foods are proving to be industry goldmine, so consumer options are increasing as is the accessibility to these products. And that’s proving to be a very good thing for a society that’s ready to get healthy again.
“There’s a lot of rebranding going on,” said one personal trainer operating out of a fitness studio in Canary Wharf (East London). “And the fact that the major players in the food and beverage industry are reformulating to add functional content to their products is a good start. It would be great to see this trend continue because the benefits are very real. We see it every day…”