Functional Foods and Natural Bioactive Compounds: Strategies to Face Metabolic Syndrome and Related Non-communicable Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) encompass long-term, multifactorial, noninfectious health disorders that constitute new epidemics in developed societies and reduce life expectancy, becoming the leading cause of death globally. The main types of NCDs include, in addition to cancer and chronic respiratory diseases, pathologies closely related to metabolic syndrome, a clinical condition associated with at least five metabolic risk factors: abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hypertension, or dyslipidemia. The perpetuation of these metabolic dysfunctions can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or some types of cancer, among other pathologies. Many of these NCDs have, as common factors, the prevalence of chronic low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, and intestinal dysbiosis. The main therapeutic guideline for metabolic syndrome entails lifestyle changes, chiefly through nutrition interventions. Often, however, these metabolic derangements require (not always desired or available) pharmaceutical therapies.

In this context, the bioactive compounds present in functional foods and other biofunctional products, including fermented (dairy and vegetable) foods and beverages, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics, can offer prophylactic and therapeutic alternatives for NCDs associated with metabolic syndrome. These biologically active ingredients emerge as alternatives for metabolic syndrome and related NCDs prophylaxis or amelioration. They represent multipurpose tools to face different aspects of metabolic disorders by reshaping intestinal ecology and modulating metabolic homeostasis, gut barrier function, inflammatory response, and redox balance. This Special Issue aims to strengthen the knowledge concerning the role of bioactive compounds in functional foods and other biofunctional products to prevent or improve metabolic syndrome or NCDs. For this purpose, contributions of original research articles or review papers fitting this significant theme for human wellness are welcome.

Dr. Paola Gauffin-Cano
Dr. Sebastián Torres
Dr. Roxana Medina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• functional foods
• bioactive compounds
• fermented foods
• fermented beverages
• fermented vegetable foods
• probiotics; prebiotics
• synbiotics; postbiotics
• metabolic syndrome
• non-communicable diseases