Nutritional supplements

The importance of food supplements

TopNutri® - Preventing malnutrition with nutritional supplements

Nutritional supplements While hunger is caused by lack of food, malnutrition is the result of an inadequate diet. It is more about quality than quantity of food.

Even if people get enough to eat, they will become malnourished if the food does not provide the proper amounts of proteins and micronutrients - vitamins and minerals - to meet their daily nutritional requirements.

Cereal based diets can lead to malnutrition

The common diets based only on cereals like wheat, rice or maize typically lead to malnutrition.

This is because this type of staple foods fails to procure the amounts of proteins and micronutrients required for the maintenance of normal body functions. As long as the nutritional quality of these diets is not ameliorated, the people following them will become malnourished regardless of how much they eat.

A diet can be enhanced either by introducing a variety of other foods (like meats and vegetables) or by enriching the staple food itself.
The latter solution is often preferred in the context of nutrition interventions as it is easier to implement and do not require a change of food habits.

The nutritional supplement TopNutri® has been developed by Compact AS for the enrichment of cereal based staple foods as a prevention of malnutrition.

When added to the staple food, TopNutri® will:

Ensure the daily required intake of the whole range of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).
Add high quality proteins to the diet.
Restore the amino-acid balance of the food by addition of Lysine, the essential amino-acid lacking in most cereals.

This will mend eventual micronutrients deficiencies, ensure the optimal use of the consumed proteins for tissue building and promote normal body functions.

The use of TopNutri® will therefore enhance cereal based diets and prevent malnutrition while respecting food habits and cultures.

For more information about TopNutri® nutritional supplement please click here.

AFYA™ - Food supplement for People Living with HIV/AIDS

Prolonging the time of progression of HIV infection to AIDS is important for the well being of the individuals as well as for the family and the society in general.

Nutrition and HIV are strongly related to each other:

The impairment of the immune system as a result of HIV infection leads to malnutrition.
Malnutrition leads in turn to impairment of the immune system.

This in turn reduces the time in which an HIV-infected person will develop AIDS.

Treating malnutrition in HIV-patients will thus contribute to slow down the development of AIDS.

For this purpose, Compact AS has developed a nutritional supplement called AFYA™. Eating AFYA™ in addition to the local food will cover the specific nutritional needs of an HIV-infected person.

AFYA™ procures:

A combination of protein sources, which give a high and balanced content of essential amino acids. The high protein content of AFYA™ maintains the increased protein flux in HIV and TB patients.
All essential vitamins and minerals balanced to assure a high nutritional utilisation with special focus on nutritional factors improving the immune defense system.

This supplement will in most cases reduce the degree of malnutrition and enhance the immune system of HIV-infected persons, slowing down the development of AIDS.

Supplementation with AFYA™ is important for all HIV-infected persons, either on anti-retroviral treatment or not.