8. a set of characteristics or qualities that identify a type or category of person or thing: a profile of a typical allergy sufferer. 9. the look or general contour of something. 10. degree of noticeability; visibility: a mayor with a high profile. 11. to draw, write, or produce a profile of.
The answer is a bit complicated. Just as there are no federal regulations or rules governing the word natural, no legal definition exists for functional foods in the United States. According to the Mayo Clinic, functional foods are generally considered to offer benefits that go beyond basic nutrition.
Functional refers to both the synthetic variety like polydextrose as well as naturally occurring inulin, which is extracted and purified from chicory roots. Polydextrose shares with dietary fiber one fundamental property: It seems to rev up your GI tract.