Herbs, vegetables and fruits are being considered to be the potential source for treating and controlling various ailments.“Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food” the tenet by Hippocrates is presently receiving great interest. In thiscontest the concept of functional food is highly appreciated. Functional foods are “food or food ingredient which providesboth health and nutritional benefits." The purpose of the present study is to formulate and evaluate a formulation containingnutraceuticals for prevention and treatment of peptic ulcers. Factors like H.pylori infection, consumption of NSAID’s,alcohol, tumors of the acid producing cells, smoking, chewing tobacco contributes for peptic ulcers. It is affecting millionsof individuals worldwide. Conventional treatment includes the drugs which reduce the rate of gastric acid secretion, drugswhich protects the mucus membrane that lines the GIT or the drugs which eliminates Helicobacter pylori. In most of thesecases adverse reactions and incidence of relapse has been observed. The concern is to introduce safer drugs with maximumtherapeutic effect, without adverse reactions. In the present study a formulation (PHF-1) containing selected functionalfoods which acts by various mechanisms to prevent and treat ulcers was developed and evaluated for its efficacy againstethanol induced gastric ulcers. Antiulcer potential was assessed by determining ulcer index, gastric pH, gastric juicevolume and total acidity. The formulation was found to be on par with standard drug Sucralfate. The findings suggest thatthe formulation is worth as an alternative treatment for gastric ulcer. 

Herbs, vegetables and fruits are being considered to be the potential source for treating and controlling various ailments.“Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food” the tenet by Hippocrates is presently receiving great interest. In thiscontest the concept of functional food is highly appreciated. Functional foods are “food or food ingredient which providesboth health and nutritional benefits." The purpose of the present study is to formulate and evaluate a formulation containingnutraceuticals for prevention and treatment of peptic ulcers. Factors like H.pylori infection, consumption of NSAID’s,alcohol, tumors of the acid producing cells, smoking, chewing tobacco contributes for peptic ulcers. It is affecting millionsof individuals worldwide. Conventional treatment includes the drugs which reduce the rate of gastric acid secretion, drugswhich protects the mucus membrane that lines the GIT or the drugs which eliminates Helicobacter pylori. In most of thesecases adverse reactions and incidence of relapse has been observed. The concern is to introduce safer drugs with maximumtherapeutic effect, without adverse reactions. In the present study a formulation (PHF-1) containing selected functionalfoods which acts by various mechanisms to prevent and treat ulcers was developed and evaluated for its efficacy againstethanol induced gastric ulcers. Antiulcer potential was assessed by determining ulcer index, gastric pH, gastric juicevolume and total acidity. The formulation was found to be on par with standard drug Sucralfate. The findings suggest thatthe formulation is worth as an alternative treatment for gastric ulcer.