Bioactive compounds for human and planetary health.

Bioactive compounds found in edible plants and foods are vital for human and planetary health, yet their significance remains underappreciated. These natural bioactives, as part of whole diets, ingredients, or supplements, can modulate multiple aspects of human health and wellness. Recent advancements in omic sciences and computational biology, combined with the development of Precision Nutrition, have contributed to the convergence of nutrition and medicine, as well as more efficient and affordable healthcare solutions that harness the power of food for prevention and therapy. Innovation in this field is crucial to feed a growing global population sustainably and healthily. This requires significant changes in our food system, spanning agriculture, production, distribution and consumption. As we are facing pressing planetary health challenges, investing in bioactive-based solutions is an opportunity to protect biodiversity and the health of our soils, waters, and the atmosphere, while also creating value for consumers, patients, communities, and stakeholders. Such research and innovation targets include alternative proteins, such as cellular agriculture and plant-derived protein; natural extracts that improve shelf-life as natural preservatives; upcycling of agricultural by-products to reduce food waste; and the development of natural alternatives to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Translational research and innovation in the field of natural bioactives are currently being developed at two levels, using a systems-oriented approach. First, at the biological level, the interplay between these compounds and the human host and microbiome is being elucidated through omics research, big data and artificial intelligence, to accelerate both discovery and validation. Second, at the ecosystem level, efforts are focused on producing diverse nutrient-rich, flavorful, and resilient, yet high-yield agricultural crops, and educating consumers to make informed choices that benefit both their health and the planet. Adopting a system-oriented perspective helps: unravel the intricate and dynamic relationships between bioactives, nutrition, and sustainability outcomes, harnessing the power of nature to promote human health and wellbeing; foster sustainable agriculture and protect the ecosystem. Interdisciplinary collaboration in this field is needed for a new era of research and development of practical food-based solutions for some of the most pressing challenges humanity and our planet are facing today.

Precision nutrition: Maintaining scientific integrity while realizing market potential.

Precision Nutrition (PN) is an approach to developing comprehensive and dynamic nutritional recommendations based on individual variables, including genetics, microbiome, metabolic profile, health status, physical activity, dietary pattern, food environment as well as socioeconomic and psychosocial characteristics. PN can help answer the question "What should I eat to be healthy?", recognizing that what is healthful for one individual may not be the same for another, and understanding that health and responses to diet change over time. The growth of the PN market has been driven by increasing consumer interest in individualized products and services coupled with advances in technology, analytics, and omic sciences. However, important concerns are evident regarding the adequacy of scientific substantiation supporting claims for current products and services. An additional limitation to accessing PN is the current cost of diagnostic tests and wearable devices. Despite these challenges, PN holds great promise as a tool to improve healthspan and reduce healthcare costs. Accelerating advancement in PN will require: (a) investment in multidisciplinary collaborations to enable the development of user-friendly tools applying technological advances in omics, sensors, artificial intelligence, big data management, and analytics; (b) engagement of healthcare professionals and payers to support equitable and broader adoption of PN as medicine shifts toward preventive and personalized approaches; and (c) system-wide collaboration between stakeholders to advocate for continued support for evidence-based PN, develop a regulatory framework to maintain consumer trust and engagement, and allow PN to reach its full potential.

Personalized nutrition and healthy aging.

The human lifespan and quality of life depend on complex interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Aging research has been remarkably advanced by the development of high-throughput "omics" technologies. Differences between chronological and biological ages, and identification of factors (eg, nutrition) that modulate the rate of aging can now be assessed at the individual level on the basis of telomere length, the epigenome, and the metabolome. Nevertheless, the understanding of the different responses of people to dietary factors, which is the focus of precision nutrition research, remains incomplete. The lack of reliable dietary assessment methods constitutes a significant challenge in nutrition research, especially in elderly populations. For practical and successful personalized diet advice, big data techniques are needed to analyze and integrate the relevant omics (ie, genomic, epigenomic, metabolomics) with an objective and longitudinal capture of individual nutritional and environmental information. Application of such techniques will provide the scientific evidence and knowledge needed to offer actionable, personalized health recommendations to transform the promise of personalized nutrition into reality.

Effect of Dietary Carbohydrate Type on Serum Cardiometabolic Risk Indicators and Adipose Tissue Inflammatory Markers.

Context and Objective: Direct comparisons between types of dietary carbohydrate in terms of cardiometabolic risk indicators are limited. This study was designed to compare the effects of an isocaloric exchange of simple, refined, and unrefined carbohydrates on serum cardiometabolic risk indicators, adipose tissue inflammatory markers, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) fractional cholesterol efflux. Design, Participants, and Measures: Participants [postmenopausal women and men (N = 11), 65 ± 8 years, body mass index 29.8 ± 3.2 kg/m2, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol ≥2.6 mmol/L] were provided with diets (60% energy from total carbohydrate, 15% from protein, 25% from fat) for 4.5 weeks in a randomized crossover design, with 2-week washout periods. The variable component was an isocaloric exchange of simple, refined, or unrefined carbohydrate-containing foods. Serum lipoprotein, glucose, insulin, and inflammatory marker concentrations were measured. Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was aspirated to assess macrophage and inflammatory marker gene expression and ex vivo cytokine secretion, and PBMCs were isolated to assess ex vivo fractional cholesterol efflux. Results: Fasting serum LDL and non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations were higher after the refined compared with simple or unrefined carbohydrate-enriched diets (P < 0.01). Other serum measures, ex vivo fractional cholesterol efflux and adipose tissue gene expression and ex vivo cytokine secretion, were similar between diets. Conclusions: Diets enriched in refined compared with simple or unrefined carbohydrate resulted in higher fasting serum LDL and non-HDL cholesterol concentrations but had little effect on other cardiometabolic risk indicators. This small study raises the intriguing possibility that refined carbohydrate may have unique adverse effects on cardiometabolic risk indicators distinct from simple and unrefined carbohydrate.

Genetic variants modify the effect of age on APOE methylation in the Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network study.

Although apolipoprotein E (APOE) variants are associated with age-related diseases, the underlying mechanism is unknown and DNA methylation may be a potential one. With methylation data, measured by the Infinium Human Methylation 450 array, from 993 participants (age ranging from 18 to 87 years) in the Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN) study, and from Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) consortium, combined with published methylation datasets, we described the methylation pattern of 13 CpG sites within APOE locus, their correlations with gene expression across cell types, and their relationships with age, plasma lipids, and sequence variants. Based on methylation levels and the genetic regions, we categorized the 13 APOE CpG sites into three groups: Group 1 showed hypermethylation (> 50%) and were located in the promoter region, Group 2 exhibited hypomethylation (< 50%) and were located in the first two exons and introns, and Group 3 showed hypermethylation (> 50%) and were located in the exon 4. APOE methylation was negatively correlated with gene expression (minimum r = -0.66, P = 0.004). APOE methylation was significantly associated with age (minimum P = 2.06E-08) and plasma total cholesterol (minimum P = 3.53E-03). Finally, APOE methylation patterns differed across APOE ε variants (minimum P = 3.51E-05) and the promoter variant rs405509 (minimum P = 0.01), which further showed a significant interaction with age (P = 0.03). These findings suggest that methylation may be a potential mechanistic explanation for APOE functions related to aging and call for further molecular mechanistic studies.

Nutrición y salud cardiovascular / Nutrition and Cardiovascular Health

Se han publicado multitud de estudios sobre la relación entre el riesgo de enfermedad cardiovascular y diversos nutrientes, alimentos y patrones de alimentación. A pesar del concepto bien aceptado de que la dieta tiene una influencia significativa en el desarrollo y la prevención de la enfermedad cardiovascular, los alimentos considerados saludables o perjudiciales han variado con el paso de los años. Esta revisión tiene como objetivo resumir la evidencia científica existente sobre el efecto cardioprotector de los alimentos y nutrientes que se ha considerado saludables y el de aquellos a los que se ha atribuido un carácter no saludable en algún momento de la historia. Para este fin, se ha revisado la literatura científica más reciente empleando las palabras clave foods y nutrients (p. ej., carne, omega-3) y términos relacionados con la enfermedad cardiovascular (p. ej., enfermedades cardiovasculares, ictus). Se ha hecho especial énfasis en los metanálisis y las revisiones Cochrane. En general, son escasos los estudios de intervención con un nivel de evidencia alto que respaldan los efectos beneficiosos de los alimentos saludables (como frutas y verduras), mientras que la evidencia que respalda los argumentos en contra de los alimentos considerados menos saludables (como las grasas saturadas) parece haberse debilitado con la evidencia más reciente. En resumen, la mayor parte de la evidencia que respalda los efectos beneficiosos y nocivos de alimentos y nutrientes se basa en estudios epidemiológicos observacionales. Los resultados de los ensayos clínicos aleatorizados revelan un cuadro más confuso, en el que la mayoría de los estudios muestran unos efectos muy pequeños en uno u otro sentido; la evidencia más sólida es la que procede de los patrones de alimentación. El conocimiento actual de la relación entre dieta y riesgo de enfermedad cardiovascular requiere unas recomendaciones más individualizadas, basadas en técnicas de genómica (AU)

A multitude of studies have been published on the relationship between cardiovascular disease risk and a variety of nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns. Despite the well-accepted notion that diet has a significant influence on the development and prevention of cardiovascular disease, the foods considered healthy and harmful have varied over the years. This review aims to summarize the current scientific evidence on the cardioprotective effect of those foods and nutrients that have been considered healthy as well as those that have been deemed unhealthy at any given time in history. For this purpose, we reviewed the most recent literature using as keywords foods and nutrients (ie, meat, omega-3) and cardiovascular disease-related terms (ie, cardiovascular diseases, stroke). Emphasis has been placed on meta-analyses and Cochrane reviews. In general, there is a paucity of intervention studies with a high level of evidence supporting the benefits of healthy foods (ie, fruits and vegetables), whereas the evidence supporting the case against those foods considered less healthy (ie, saturated fat) seems to be weakened by most recent evidence. In summary, most of the evidence supporting the benefits and harms of specific foods and nutrients is based on observational epidemiological studies. The outcome of randomized clinical trials reveals a more confusing picture with most studies providing very small effects in one direction or another; the strongest evidence comes from dietary patterns. The current status of the relationship between diet and cardiovascular disease risk calls for more tailored recommendations based on genomic technologies (AU)

Nutrition and cardiovascular health.

A multitude of studies have been published on the relationship between cardiovascular disease risk and a variety of nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns. Despite the well-accepted notion that diet has a significant influence on the development and prevention of cardiovascular disease, the foods considered healthy and harmful have varied over the years. This review aims to summarize the current scientific evidence on the cardioprotective effect of those foods and nutrients that have been considered healthy as well as those that have been deemed unhealthy at any given time in history. For this purpose, we reviewed the most recent literature using as keywords foods and nutrients (ie, meat, omega-3) and cardiovascular disease-related terms (ie, cardiovascular diseases, stroke). Emphasis has been placed on meta-analyses and Cochrane reviews. In general, there is a paucity of intervention studies with a high level of evidence supporting the benefits of healthy foods (ie, fruits and vegetables), whereas the evidence supporting the case against those foods considered less healthy (ie, saturated fat) seems to be weakened by most recent evidence. In summary, most of the evidence supporting the benefits and harms of specific foods and nutrients is based on observational epidemiological studies. The outcome of randomized clinical trials reveals a more confusing picture with most studies providing very small effects in one direction or another; the strongest evidence comes from dietary patterns. The current status of the relationship between diet and cardiovascular disease risk calls for more tailored recommendations based on genomic technologies.