Natural Products Workshop Attracts Practitioners and Researchers
The Atlantic Canada Network on Bioactive Compounds (ACNBC), a regional coalition based within the Faculty of Science at UPEI, hosted an information workshop on the health benefits of natural products on August 22 in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre, UPEI campus. It was sponsored by the Natural Health Products Directorate, a division of Health Canada.
The purpose of this one-day event was to create an opportunity for health practitioners to discuss natural health products, their uses, and the scope of the research being carried out in our region. The morning focussed on presentations from manufacturers and researchers who are currently involved in projects aimed at discovering and commercializing the health benefits of these products.
One of the participants was Dr. Carolanne Nelson from the Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences at UPEI, who is one of the key collaborators in ACNBC research projects. ACNBC specifically investigates wild blueberries and rosehips, both of which grow throughout Atlantic Canada.
There is increasing recognition that natural health products may play a role in disease prevention and treatment. More and more people are choosing to use these products as part of their daily health regime. Current research is investigating why and how natural remedies appear to be helpful. For example, one of the projects that ACNBC researchers have targeted is the effect of blueberries in improving cardio-vascular disease.
Other visiting speakers included Dr. Jeffrey Zidichouski from the NRC Institute of Nutrisciences and Health, and Connie Kehler, Executive Director of the Canadian Herb, Spice, and Natural Products Coalition based in Saskatchewan. Annette Daley, Director of the Health Products and Food Branch of Health Canada spoke about the regulations in Canada pertaining to natural health products.
The afternoon consisted of informal discussions about the continuing need for information on natural health products and how that information can be accessed. Dr. Roger Gordon, Chair of ACNBC, welcomed the opportunity to establish a dialogue among the key members of the natural products field. "Consumers and health practitioners are demanding more information that has scientific rigour to substantiate health claims. The objective of this workshop was to further the discussion in our region"
More information about ACBNC can be found on their website at www.upei.ca/acnbc.
