Foods to protect gut

Nucleotides, available over the counter as "health food" supplements, reduce gastric injury, says a report in the medical journal Gut.

These compounds "could provide a novel, inexpensive approach for the prevention and treatment of the injurious effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other ulcerative conditions of the bowel", investigators from the Imperial College and Hammersmith Hospital, London, conclude.

The team notes that nucleotides serve as building blocks for making DNA and are marketed in either pure or mixed forms to promote general health.

Dr Tania Marchbank said "these results emphasise that the division between 'food products' and 'drugs', when considered in terms of biological activity, is far from clear and that these products should be considered as 'nutriceuticals' or functional foods."

- REUTERS