Themed collection Food & Function Review Articles 2025

The impact of heavy alcohol consumption on health and nutritional status is well-documented, but the effects of moderate beer consumption remain less well understood.

Probiotics enhance vitamin absorption by modulating gut microbiota, regulating intestinal pH/metabolism, and influencing transporter proteins.

Polysaccharides from echinoderms show diverse structures with unique functional properties. Their bioactivities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticoagulant effects, highlight their potential in health and functional food applications.

Strawberries are commonly consumed berries in the Mediterranean area.

Aberrant fatty acid metabolism promotes cardiovascular disease via oxidative stress, inflammation, and vascular dysfunction. Targeting key pathways and optimizing lipid intake offers promising strategies for prevention and treatment.

The health benefits of vegan diets are well documented, though achieving nutritional adequacy requires careful planning, as is the case with any well-designed diet.

Different nutrients and metabolites affect appetite signals and the feed desire.

Polyphenols have gained attention for modulating hepatic pathways critical to glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetes. This review examines their effects on key liver targets, highlighting research gaps and their relevance in diabetes management.

In vivo studies disclose biomarkers of fried food intake, via MS-based metabolomics.

In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the main sources and biosynthesis pathways of 1-dnj, strategies to increase its production, and the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of 1-dnj on diabetes mellitus (DM) and various diabetic complications.

Gut microbiota-derived PA, an odd-chain saturated fatty acid, can modulate several signaling pathways to hold great promise for the treatment of several diseases.

Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a polyphenolic compound found in various plant species, has shown considerable potential in the treatment and management of several diseases due to its potent bioactive properties.

Starch and phenolic acids, two common plant-based food components, can interact to form complexes during food processing, thus improving the functional properties of both starch and phenolic acids.

The combination of bioactive peptides from various food sources and iron enhances their therapeutic effect on iron deficiency anemia.

Fucoidan from brown seaweed shows lipid-lowering, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, endothelial-protective and prebiotic activities. These effects address key atherosclerosis mechanisms, making it a promising therapeutic candidate.

Maize (Zea mays L.), as a globally significant food and economic crop, has attracted considerable attention from both the academic and industrial sectors due to its rich nutrient components and wide-ranging application value.

This review offers useful information to guide further research on fruits native to South America, which is a largely unexplored frontier, for developing novel antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial compounds.

Maternal obesity increases the risk of metabolic disorders in offspring.

The growing need for sustainable protein sources has led to increased interest in marine-based alternatives, particularly those with bioactive properties.

Combination of dietary factor intake and exercise enhances the preventive effect against obesity and improves cognitive function.

Plant polyphenols show good potential for preventing chronic metabolic diseases, especially resveratrol, by reducing insulin resistance and fat synthesis linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

The future generation of plant-based meat alternatives may be based on ancient fermented foods with limited additives and processing steps.

Dietary therapy shows promise for diabetic kidney disease but requires personalization and further research.

The health status of the growing infant is closely related to the development of the gut microbiota during infancy, which is also a major stimulator of the immune system.

Our research underscores the necessity of assessing the quality of plant-based foods to determine their classification as either healthy or unhealthy. This evaluation is crucial, as it relates to the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Food contains various components that improve health by affecting the gut microbiota, primarily by modulating its abundance or altering its diversity.

Bioactive peptides may experience changes in bioactivity during digestion, depending on their stability and the bioactivity of their digestion products. Encapsulation enhances their gastrointestinal stability.

Interventions targeting ferroptosis are summarized from the perspective of dietary patterns, food and nutrients.

Gut barrier integrity is of fundamental importance for human health. Effects of flavan-3-ols, their metabolites, and their dietary sources in maintaining its functionality was analysed in this review.

This review provides a comprehensive evaluation of the anti-tumor bioactivities and delivery strategies of dietary polyphenols, as well as their application in the development of nano-therapeutic systems for tumor.

This meta-analysis assesses long-term effects of CRDs with varying carbohydrate levels (MLCDs vs. LCDs) on metabolic outcomes in dyslipidemic patients, identifying MLCDs intake as a promising strategy for reducing CVDs risk in this population.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent a primary global health challenge.

IPA binds to AhR and PXR receptors, regulating bone metabolic disorders.

Camel milk has a unique composition that sets it apart from other types of animal milk, which has captured the interest of medical and scientific communities.

During skin photoaging, some FDAPs can be absorbed by the gut, pass through the blood barrier, and act on the skin. Some FDAPs can regulate gut microbiota, indirectly mitigating the effects of photoaging.

The aim of the current study was to systematically review and quantify the findings of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of fermented soy products on anthropometric indices, body composition, and metabolic outcomes.

The gut–brain axis, a complex system of two-way communication between both organs, plays a key role in overall health.

Acrylamide contained in UPFs is neurotoxic and will do harm to human intestine and brain through the MGB axis. Polysaccharides are active substances, which can alleviate the neurotoxicity caused by acrylamide by improving the MGB axis.

This study evaluated the impact of defatted rice bran (DRB) particle sizes (103.67–6.04 μm) on the gel properties and flavor of silver carp surimi gels.