Stephen De Felice has coined the term nutraceutical for the food product or its functional components exhibiting nutrition and pharmaceutical properties both. Nutraceuticals can be functional food ingredients or dietary supplements, obtained from natural sources (mostly plants origin). It is taken by many people at worldwide for getting the health promotion or benefits and disease risk reduction. Infinite number of bioactive compounds (individually or collectively) are reported with the expected beneficial effects and it has provided many benefits, depending on mechanisms occurred at varied level with their positive effects 12. Phenolic compounds have shown the antioxidant activity via protecting the people from cellular oxidation. Conjugation of bioactives with other active or inactive components has also shown their positive effect as activity of resultant products. And in this regards, phytosterols with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are reported to lower cholesterol level in people whereas combination of esters of epigallocatechin gallate with docosahexaenoic acid has shown to arrest colon cancer in mice model. Illustration of the concepts and approaches are used for expected benefits in human being 3.

Significant effects on blood pressure (BP) control have been reported from Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) in Mediterranean diet as large nutritional interventions. BP-lowering effects from different nutraceuticals product have been studied with specific foods to rich in minerals, lipids, whole proteins, peptides, amino acids, probiotics and vitamins 4. Further, use of potassium, L-arginine, vitamins C and D, cocoa avonoids, beetroot juice, some probiotics, coenzyme Q10, controlled-release melatonin, aged garlic extract, and coffee has reported for beneficial to health promotion. Other nutraceuticals are also utilized by people to get health benefits which are green tea, fax-seed and resveratrol without any adequate evidence. Chocolate favanols has property to reduce cardiovascular risk. Clinical research is required to identify active nutraceuticals with gained of best cost-effectiveness and risk–benefit ratio 5.

Orthosiphon stamineus has shown significant affect in reduction of mean 24-hour systolic and diastolic BP levels compared to baseline values. Addition of Orthosiphon stamineus in combination of nutraceuticals (i.e. policosanol, red yeast rice extract, berberine, folic acid and coenzyme Q(10)) has shown the antihypertensive effect on effective 24-hour BP control in hypertensive patients. Nutraceuticals are free from side effects with valuable strategy for the treatment of blood pressure problem in patients 56. Vascular biology, endothelial and vascular smooth muscle; and cardiac dysfunction have shown their role for initiation and perpetuation of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and target organ damage. But the nutraceuticals food product, nutrient-gene interactions and epigenetic phenomena can provide the predominant factors in promoting the beneficial or reducing the detrimental effects to cardiovascular health and hypertension respectively 71.

And macronutrients and micronutrients in food have shown their effect with the capability to prevent, control and treat hypertension via involvement of numerous mechanisms in vascular biology. Functional foods are reported to differ from nutraceuticals but it is required in definite amount for healthy state and survival of people which can get from vitamins, fats, proteins, carbohydrates 8. Oxidative stress, inflammation and autoimmune dysfunction are reported for initiation and propagation of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. And selected use of functional component in nutraceutical supplements, vitamins, antioxidants and minerals are useful in treatment of hypertension based on complement and optimal nutrition coupled with other lifestyle modifications 9.