Book Description

Chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide with increasing prevalence in all age groups, genders, and ethnicities. Emerging evidence suggests that precision nutrition plays a pivotal role in the prevention and management of chronic diseases and has been recognized as a key focus for the next ten years of health research. Currently, one of the major challenges in precision nutrition is the valid and reliable assessment of foods and nutrients intake, especially whole foods (e.g., fermented foods) and macromolecules (e.g., polysaccharides), as well as their impact on host health and disease. Strong evidence has supported that the biomarkers (e.g., metabolites) as an intermediate bridge can effectively link precision nutrition and chronic diseases, which can contribute to objectively assessing food consumption and precisely determining the biological effects of complex foods (ingredients). However, still we are at the very beginning to understand how precision nutrition regulates biomarkers to prevent chronic diseases with individual differences. The molecular mechanisms of key biomarkers in chronic diseases have not been fully elucidated and extensive studies are crucially warranted.