Nutrients, Nutraceuticals, and Functional Foods to Boost Brain–Gut Axis Health

Dear Colleagues,

The brain–gut axis is increasingly being considered essential for achieving a state of holistic health and wellbeing. The connection between the brain and the gut involves components from the hormonal, nerve, and immune systems that are recognized to be sensitive to many different influences. As a consequence of negative influences, the brain, the gut or, generally, both (the brain–gut axis) display significant alterations in functional gastrointestinal disorders (irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia), organic gastrointestinal pathologies (gastrointestinal cancers, inflammatory bowel diseases, celiac disease, eosinophil-related disorders, other allergies and intolerances) but also neurodegenerative (Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, prion’s diseases) and psychiatric diseases (autism, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety), as well as infective (Chagas’ disease, COVID-19, salmonellosis) and iatrogenic disorders (i.e., chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-induced alterations).

Nutrients, nutraceuticals, and functional foods have attracted attention for their potential preventative and therapeutic role, including that exerted through balancing the gut microbiota. For example, many components of plants growing on the ground and in water environments are already well recognized for their beneficial health properties, but many are still awaiting identification and functional characterization for their optimal use by the food and pharma industries in the development of new efficient and safe functional foods and medicinal products. Thus, although much has been done, there is clearly still room for research in this hot field at the basic, clinical, and epidemiological level.

In this Special Issue, we welcome different types of manuscript submissions, including original preclinical and clinical research articles and up-to-date reviews (narrative and systematic reviews, as well as meta-analyses) focused on the potential benefits of nutrients, nutraceuticals, and functional foods on the brain, the gut, and especially brain–gut axis health. Studies aimed at clarifying the differential effects of nutrients, nutraceuticals, and functional foods on the brain, gut, and brain–gut axis associated with different ages (children, adolescents, elderly), genetic or racial background, physiological conditions (gender, pregnancy, menopause), or other individual circumstances (sport performance, pluripathology, polymedication) are particularly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Raquel Abalo
Guest Editor

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