Unravelling the Impact of Dietary Bioactives on Cardiometabolic Risk and Disease

Recent advances in nutritional science have intensified interest in the role of dietary bioactive compounds, substances in foods that have effects on health beyond basic nutritional value, in the prevention and management of cardiometabolic diseases. Cardiometabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, represent a major global health burden. Large-scale epidemiological studies have linked consumption of certain bioactive-rich foods and beverages, such as fruits, vegetables, or nuts, with improved clinical and metabolic outcomes, yet the specific components responsible and their mechanisms of action remain incompletely understood. Technological developments in dietary assessment, biomarker measurement, and systems biology have provided novel tools to dissect these relationships, while ongoing debates persist regarding the consistency of findings between observational and intervention studies, the influence of individual variability, and the practical translation of bioactive intake into meaningful clinical endpoints. Major gaps include standardization of exposure measurement, clarification of dose-response relationships, and differentiation of effects among diverse populations. This Research Topic aims to elucidate the pathways by which nutritional bioactives affect cardiometabolic health across the continuum from population-level exposures to clinical interventions. The central objectives are to synthesize evidence linking specific bioactive compounds to key cardiometabolic endpoints, explore the biological mechanisms involved, and assess the influences of genetics, microbiome, and lifestyle on response variation. The Topic will address critical questions such as: which bioactive classes confer the greatest benefit, are observed associations causal, what exposures and patterns are required for efficacy, and how can research translate to actionable dietary guidance? By integrating epidemiological research with clinical trials, precision nutrition, and mechanistic studies, the goal is to foster new insights that bridge fundamental discovery with practical health applications.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses studies investigating the assessment, effects, mechanisms, and implementation of dietary bioactive compounds in relation to cardiometabolic health, with a focus on both population-based and clinical contexts. The boundaries of this Topic are set to exclude work that does not directly pertain to quantifiable bioactive exposures or cardiometabolic outcomes. To gather further insights, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Evaluation of dietary intake of bioactives, bioactive compound biomarker identification and measurement, and efficacy of databases for identifying and standardizing exposure to bioactiveso Prospective and observational studies linking bioactives to cardiometabolic risk markers and endpointso Randomized trials and clinical interventions assessing bioactive-rich foods, extracts, or supplementso Precision nutrition approaches, including the influence of genetics, microbiome, and metabolomic profileso Mechanistic and systems biology studies exploring pathways from bioactive intake to health outcomeso Translation to dietary guidance, implementation science, safety, and equity considerations Topic editors: Victoria M Taormina, José Augusto Augusto Gasparotto Sattler Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79694/unravelling-the-impact-of-dietary-bioactives-on-cardiometabolic-risk-and-disease