Dietary

Diet also called as nutrition, is the total quantity of the food consumed by an organism or group and the foods that aids in dieting are called as diet foods. Dieting is primarily done to reduce the body weight in humans by deliberately selecting the food, which helps to control body weight or nutrient intake.

Most of the people choose to forgo food from animal sources such as cheese, milk etc for health reasons. Raw food is another contemporary trend.

A dietary supplement or food supplement or nutritional supplement, is the diet that provides nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids that may be missing or in-sufficient quantities in a person's diet. Dietary supplements are meant to be taken orally either in pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid form. They are mostly used to increase metabolism, immunity, growth, organ function, weight management and energy levels.

Poor eating habits, combined with limited activity, are a leading contributor to obesity, which increases the risk of serious long-term illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma and cancer, and shortens life expectancies.  Even high calorie diet, lacking in essential nutrients can lead to weight control issues, low energy and self-esteem and an overall lower quality of life. On the other hand, more than one billion people around the world, mostly in developing countries, suffer from malnutrition. 

Industry Overview

There is an exponential growth in the global nutrition market. World health has benefited greatly from nutrition and eating habits, which play a vital role in addressing growing health concerns related to obesity, chronic diseases, malnutrition and aging.

The global diet food industry is growing because of the rising levels of obesity and weight-related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

Dietary Industry Current Trends

As per the reports, the global nutrition market might exceed $400 billion by 2014 and the global weight management industry is forecast to generate sales of $650 billion by 2015.

Major Dietary Industry Players

Some of the leading companies currently operating in the global weight management industry include Reebok, Brunswick, Unilever, Abbott Nutrition, Atkins Nutritionals, McNeil Nutritionals, GSK, Nestle, Kellogg, Roche, Merck and Jenny Craig.