Food is one of our most basic needs. However, in our modern society fresh food is a thing of past. The so called fresh fruits and vegetables we buy today have little nutritional value because they are grown in nutrient-deficient soil, picked before they ripen naturally, gassed, irradiated, artificially ripened and stored for days before we eat it. Therefore, our diets lack essential building blocks of functional foods vital to our health and well-being.

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON'T GET THESE FUNCTIONAL FOODS?

Without functional foods body cannot continue miracle of healing itself as these foods provide raw materials needed to assist in this healing process thus giving body fuel to perform at optimum levels. Without sufficient functional foods following four problems exist for most people:

*Starvation: since most of our food is nutritionally starved; *Toxicity: many food products including raw fruits and vegetables contain toxins not to mention air we breathe and water we drink, which actually work against our body's natural healing process; *Stress: as a result of malnutrition and high levels of toxicity; *Degenerative disease: which can be symptomatic of nutritional deficiency and as a result of stress on body.

WHAT ARE THESE FUNCTIONAL FOODS?

Functional foods or Neutraceuticals are "foods that are thought to prevent disease" (Harvard Health Letter April '95). The building blocks of functional foods are called phytochemicals (plant chemicals) These phytochemicals (carbohydrates) are naturally occurring bioactive substances that prevent diseases by interacting with body's innate healing process to maintain vibrant health and energy.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THESE PHYTOCHEMICALS?

Of 200 simple sugars (glyconutritionals) occurring in plants, only eight are known to be essential for cell- to-cell communication. These are only found in food that is ripened on vine/tree and remain active for 48 hours after being picked. However, only two of these, glucose & galactose are found in modern diets. The body can convert these two into six missing sugars, but this enzymatic process is long (up to 20 steps), unreliable and error-prone. Thus we need to supplement our diets with these missing sugars.

WHY ARE THESE glyconutritionals SO IMPORTANT?

Aromas had been used for medicinal, spiritual, and magical purposes going back as far back as Egyptian times 3000 B.C. Even further back in time 5000 B.C. Tassili cave paintings showed women wearing fragrant flower garlands. There are frequent mentions of use of potions throughout history – Pliny 1st century Roman historian, mentions in his Natural History narrative, 32 remedies prepared from roses, 21 from lilies, 17 from violets, and 25 from pennyroyal. Ancient Indian cultures used sandalwood for genito-urinary infections.

Nostradamus, at age of 21 received a licence, having studied in Montpellier France, to practise medicine. One of formulae which he used as a remedy for several conditions, has survived to this day, and was compounded of rose petals, cloves, lignum aloes, and dried roots of iris and sweet flag.