This Research Topic is the second volume of the “Genome-based Nutrition Strategies for Preventing Diet-related Chronic Diseases: Where Genes, Diet, and Food Culture Meet”. Please see the first volume here .

Human populations that have recently undergone substantial changes in their traditional social, cultural, and dietary habits have shown an increased susceptibility to developing chronic diet-related diseases concerning their genetic background. One factor is that the population's adaptive genetic variants related to its evolutionary history are exposed to different physical and lifestyle environments that underlie and influence the current patterns of disease risk.

Under this perspective, the current obesogenic environment has promoted the acculturation of a westernized diet disrupting the ancestral gene-foods/nutrients/bioactive compounds interactions, i.e., ancestral genetic/ethnic profile vs. modern lifestyle. Modern lifestyles, including unhealthy dietary patterns, have further impaired the consumption of staple foods with essential nutrients and functional properties, increasing the incidence of obesity and associated comorbidities. However, most conventional nutrition approaches targeting chronic diseases have limited impact on managing the leading non-communicable diseases affecting modern societies.

Novel genome-based nutrition strategies are required considering populations' genetic, cultural, and lifestyle differences to prevent or treat chronic diet-related diseases worldwide. Rescuing the food components and culture of many traditional or regional diets consistent with the ancestral genetic makeup of individuals or subpopulations could be a novel approach to impacting health, environment, and sustainability. Therefore, modern genomic nutrition research can provide evidence to decipher the interacting roles of population-specific adaptative gene polymorphisms, nutrient/bioactive compounds, and food culture for preventing and managing diet-related chronic diseases.

This Research Topic aims to provide a collection of works related to the role of populations’ genetic variability in diet-related chronic diseases in which nutrition transition has caused acculturation leading to obesity and associated comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. Studies on prevention and management strategies based on this evidence to curb the morbidity and mortality of diet-related chronic diseases and to promote the consumption of culturally friendly and sustainable diets are also of interest in this compilation. Finally, papers covering aspects of molecular anthropology such as the role of evolution in human adaptation to nutrients in the context of the relationship between genes, diet and food culture are also welcome.

Examples of epidemiological, basic, clinical, translational, or qualitative research with a nutritional genomics framework include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• The role of ancestry and food adaptations in (co)-evolutionary processes driven by dietary processes or diet/nutrition of populations.
• Adaptative/risk (protective) alleles or genetic biomarkers involved in diet-related chronic diseases.
• Personalized/precision nutrition trials involving phenotypic evaluation (age, sex, body composition, dietary intake, physical activity) and “omics” implementation (nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics, metagenomics, epigenomics, foodomics and metabolomics to develop optimal and customized dietary advice for health promotion and disease prevention.
• The role of ethnic/traditional/staple diets containing foods, nutrients, or bioactive compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti- gut dysbiosis, or carbohydrate/lipid metabolism-modulating properties to revert pathophysiological metabolic pathways (insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemias, etc) in chronic diseases with genetic background.
• Position statements of population-based or regionalized nutrigenetic/genomic strategies for the early detection or prevention of diet-related chronic disease.
• Qualitative research on the impact of nutrition transition in specific ethnic groups with a genetic risk background for diet-related chronic diseases.
• Genomic Adaptations to Dietary Components: Research on specific genetic variations that have evolved in response to dietary components such as lactose, starch, alcohol, and fatty acids.
• Evolutionary History of Human Diets: Studies on the dietary habits of ancient human populations and the evolutionary pressures that shaped their nutritional adaptations.
• Cultural Influences on Nutritional Genetics: Analyses of how cultural practices and food preparation methods have influenced genetic adaptations to diet.
• Interdisciplinary Methodologies: Novel methodologies combining molecular anthropology, genomics, bioinformatics, and cultural anthropology to study the interplay between genes, diet, and culture.
• Ethnographic Case Studies: Detailed studies of specific communities that illustrate the evolutionary relationship between diet, genetics, and cultural practices.

We welcome submissions of brief research reports, original research, clinical trials, study cases, full- or mini-reviews, general commentary, opinions, or perspectives. We hope you will consider our Research Topic as a venue for disseminating the most recent findings in the field and ideas in genome-based nutrition strategies for preventing diet-related chronic diseases.

Impact

Frontiers in Nutrition

Nutrigenomics

Nutritional Epidemiology

Nutrition and Metabolism