Dietary Contaminants and Their Role in Obesity-Related Metabolic Disorders: From Mechanisms to Prevention

Dear Colleagues,

Obesity and its associated metabolic disorders represent a growing global health crisis with multifactorial origins that extend beyond simple caloric imbalance and poor dietary patterns. Recent evidence implicates contaminants ingested through food—both well established and emerging—as critical modulators of metabolic homeostasis, contributing to insulin resistance, adipose tissue dysfunction, inflammation, and dyslipidemia. This Special Issue of Nutrients will bridge fundamental mechanistic insights and translational prevention strategies by exploring how dietary exposure to persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, mycotoxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, microplastics, and other unregulated foodborne toxins contributes to obesity-related pathologies.

We welcome submissions—original research, reviews, and perspectives—that elucidate how contaminants consumed through food disrupt metabolic and cognitive functions, as well as approaches to their detection, dietary exposure assessment, and mitigation. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, mechanistic insights into toxin-induced neuroendocrine and metabolic dysregulation; population-based and exposome studies linking dietary exposures with obesity and cognitive outcomes; advanced analytical methods and regulatory frameworks; and interdisciplinary prevention strategies spanning nutrition, behavior, and policy aimed at reducing toxic dietary burdens and safeguarding both metabolic and brain health.

Manuel Jiménez-García
Guest Editor Assistant
Affiliation: Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Biology, University of Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma, Spain
Interests: neurophysiology; cognitive decline; oxidative stress; obesity; fatty liver

Dr. Antoni Sureda
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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