A utilização de nutracêuticos e nutricosméticos para aplicação estética e saúde da pele: uma revisão.

Abstract

The term nutraceuticals was created in the 1980s to designate foods or parts of them (metabolites) that have proven medicinal properties and, when consumed routinely, bring several benefits in the prevention and treatment of diseases. While nutricosmetics are nutritional supplements based on bioactive compounds with different functions and aesthetic benefits for the skin, hair and nails. This study brings a general approach to the use and importance of nutraceuticals and nutricosmetics for aesthetic health and the performance of the pharmacist, through an integrative review of the current literature, with articles and/or publications from the last 10 years (2012-2022), making a critical analysis of studies available in electronic databases such as Medline, Pubmed, Lilacs, Scielo, Google academic, using as descriptors: nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, aging, pharmaceutical performance; carried out in order to group and synthesize information about the topic addressed, initially 102 articles were selected, of which 82 were used in the work. The results found in the analyzed articles indicate that nutraceutical is a broad term used to define a wide variety of foods and bioactive compounds, providing health benefits in the prevention and/or treatment of chronic diseases, while nutricosmetics, a subgroup, are related to care and aesthetic benefits. There is still a need for more safety and efficacy studies on these products, and quality specifications to support their claims. The pharmacist has great importance for clarifying and ensuring the correct use of medicines or food supplements, which leads to reduced risks for the patient. It can be concluded the importance of nutraceuticals and nutricosmetics for health, as well as their benefits for aesthetic issues, however, their use must be done in a rational way because there is still no specific legislation that guarantees a totally safe use.