Foods have been fortified for decades, but research in nanotechnology is still developing to make foods healthier, according to an article from the Boston Globe. The next goal for scientists in this field is altering ingredients to make fatty foods healthier and make nutrients bioavailable during different locations in the digestive tract.
While the article says it will take a long time before these products hit the shelves, experiments are underway for creating droplets of fat surrounded by a dietary fiber coating, so it tastes like regular food, but the fat isn’t digested.
Other experiments are focusing on delivering a vitamin to a specific part of the digestive tract, like butyric acid that has potential anticancer properties on the colon. The nutrient, however, is normally absorbed before it reaches the colon. The idea is that with a fiber coating, butyric acid will be able to travel to the colon intact where the body will break down the fiber and release the nutrient.