Functional Foods with Intestinal and Metabolic Health Effects

Dear Colleagues,

Cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and chronic renal failure, collectively called cardiometabolic diseases, are major causes of morbidity and mortality around the world. These conditions often appear as a consequence of physiopathological changes associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome. It is generally accepted that the adoption of a diet based on intelligent food choices constitutes one of the main lifestyle modifications that reduce cardiometabolic risk.

Current dietary recommendations for people at high cardiometabolic risk encompass quantitative and qualitative changes in the intake of fat and carbohydrates, as well as increased consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Besides those general guidelines, the number of particular foods and ingredients with the identified potential ability to reduce the risk of cardiometabolic diseases has increased notably in the last few decades, and there are examples of applying these type of items in the formulation of commercial functional foods. However, further cardiometabolic-protective foods are yet to be recognized and characterized in terms of their functional composition, mechanisms of action, and clinical usefulness.

This Special Issue welcomes original research, literature reviews, and meta-analysis articles covering the characterization of traditional and novel functional ingredients, foods and mixed diets with cardiometabolic risk-reducing effect. We particularly invite papers addressing compositional aspects, in vitro and in vivo investigations of mechanisms of action, and efficacy evaluation in intervention studies. Articles dealing with beneficial effects of functional foods on energy intake regulation and cardiometabolic-related cognitive decline will also be considered.

Prof. Juscelino Tovar
Dr. Anne Nilsson
Dr. Oswaldo Hernandez-Hernandez
Guest Editors

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