Nutrition And Cardiometabolic Health

Nutrition plays a key role in prevention of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. Diet influences a broad spectrum of cardiometabolic risk factors, notably a cluster including excess adiposity, dyslipidemia, impaired glucose metabolism and high blood pressure. In the face of the rapidly increasing incidence of obesity and diabetes, maintaining cardiometabolic health through adoption of a healthy lifestyle is a top public health priority. In this book, Nutrition and Cardiometabolic Health, international experts present state-of-the-art scholarly reviews of dietary and lifestyle effects on metabolic systems associated with cardiovascular health and disease. It covers a broad range of topics including biological and behavioral processes regulating food intake; lifestyle and surgical approaches to weight loss; nutritional considerations for optimal cardiometabolic health across the lifespan; the relationship of macronutrients, whole foods and dietary patterns to diabetes and cardiovascular disease; and diet as a modulator of gene expression, epigenetics and the gut microbiome and the relationship of these traits to disorders of metabolism. This book provides its readers with an authoritative view of the present state of knowledge of dietary effects on cardiometabolic health and will be of interest to nutrition and healthcare professionals alike.

The purpose of this Special Issue "The Role of Nutrition in Cardiometabolic Health: Experimental, Clinical, and Community-Based Evidence" is to publish a focused, coherent, impactful, and well-cited volume on how nutrition influences diverse cardiometabolic risk factors. Cardiometabolic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and obesity, is the leading cause of death worldwide. In recent years, dietary habits have shifted all over the globe. At the same time, a constantly growing body of evidence demonstrates the role of caloric intake and dietary composition as determinants of cardiometabolic health. Suboptimal diet predisposes to a myriad of cardiometabolic risk factors such as impaired glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemias, and high blood pressure.

Cardiovascular, respiratory, and related conditions cause more than 40 percent of all deaths globally, and their substantial burden is rising, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Their burden extends well beyond health effects to include significant economic and societal consequences. Most of these conditions are related, share risk factors, and have common control measures at the clinical, population, and policy levels. Lives can be extended and improved when these diseases are prevented, detected, and managed. This volume summarizes current knowledge and presents evidence-based interventions that are effective, cost-effective, and scalable in LMICs.

The purpose of this Special Issue, “The Role of Nutrition in Cardiometabolic Health: Experimental, Clinical, and Community-Based Evidence”, is to publish a focused, coherent, impactful, and well-cited volume on how nutrition influences diverse cardiometabolic risk factors. Cardiometabolic diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and obesity are the leading causes of death worldwide. In recent years, dietary habits have shifted all over the globe. At the same time, a constantly growing body of evidence demonstrates the role of caloric intake and dietary composition as determinants of cardiometabolic health. A suboptimal diet predisposes to a myriad of cardiometabolic risk factors such as impaired glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and high blood pressure. The goal of this Special Issue is to provide rigorous evidence from novel experimental and observational studies that support the association between dietary factors and cardiometabolic risk and evaluate the diverse diet-related risk pathways.

Cereal and pulse crops are staple foods that provide essential nutrients to many populations of the world. Traditionally, whole grains were consumed but most current foods are derived from refined fractions of cereal and pulse crops. Consumption of processed or refined products may reduce the health benefits of food. In wheat-based processed foods, for example, the removed 40% of the grain (mainly the bran and the germ of the wheat grain) contains the majority of the health beneficial components. These components, particularly non-essential phytochemicals such as carotenoids, polyphenols, phytosterols/ stanols, and dietary fibers, have been shown to reduce the risk of major chronic diseases of humans, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and Parkinson’s disease. Such bioactives are therefore good candidates for ingredients of nutraceuticals and functional foods. There are many factors that can affect the bioactive content of cereal and pulse-based food ingredients, including genetics, growing and storage conditions, post-harvest treatments, food formulation and processing. All of these factors ultimately affect human health and wellness. Bioavailability is also important for these compounds for exerting their protective roles. Cereals and Pulses: Nutraceutical Properties and Health Benefits provides a summary of current research findings related to phytochemical composition and properties of cereal and pulse crops. The nutraceutical properties of each major cereal and pulse are discussed. Coverage of cereals and pulse crops includes barley, oats, rice, rye, corn, adlay, wheat, buckwheat, psyllium, sorghum, millet, common beans, field peas, faba beans, chickpea, lentil and soybeans. Chapters for each crop discuss methods to improve crop utilization, nutraceutical components and properties, bioactive compositions, antioxidant properties, beneficial health effects, disease prevention activities, and areas for future research. Also included are two chapters that examine the beneficial health properties of dietary fibers and antioxidants. Edited and written by an international team of respected researchers, this book is a reference guide for scientists working in food ingredients, food product research and development, functional foods and nutraceuticals, crop breeding and genetics, human nutrition, post-harvest treatment and processing of cereal grains and pulses. It will enable them to effect value-added food innovation for health promotion and disease risk reduction.

The impact of fat intake on hypercholesterolemia and related atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases has been studied for decades. However, the current evidence base suggests that fatty acids also influences cardiometabolic diseases through other mechanisms including effects on glucose metabolism, body fat distribution, blood pressure, inflammation, and heart rate. Furthermore, studies evaluating single fatty acids have challenged the simplistic view of shared health effects within fatty acid groups categorized by degree of saturation. In addition, investigations of endogenous fatty acid metabolism, including genetic studies of fatty acid metabolizing enzymes, and the identification of novel metabolically derived fatty acids have further increased the complexity of fatty acids’ health impacts. This Special Issue aims to include original research and up-to-date reviews on genetic and dietary modulation of fatty acids, and the role and function of dietary and metabolically derived fatty acids in cardiometabolic health.

This book discusses all aspects of non-pharmacologic approaches to primary and secondary CVD prevention. It highlights the strength of evidence for particular diet styles in CVD prevention, including plant-based diets, the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and low-carbohydrate diets. Chapters present evidence and future directions for diet and nutrition in diseases related to CVD, such as dyslipidemia, cardiometabolic disease (pre-diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, type-2 diabetes mellitus), and obesity. Finally, the book reviews novel and emerging aspects of dietary intervention in CVD prevention, such as dietary approaches to inflammation and the role of the microbiome in CVD. Up-to-date, evidence-based, and clinically oriented, Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease: Nutritional and Dietary Approaches is an essential resource for physicians, residents, fellows, and medical students in cardiology, clinical nutrition, family medicine, endocrinology, and lipidology.