Title : Metabolomic changes in overweight and obese people associated to the seasonality of plant-based products consumption
Abstract:
besity has become a global epidemic and a major problem of public health due to its high impact on morbidity, mortality, quality of life and healthcare expenditure. Health policies have been focused on recommending healthy lifestyles, including diet and exercise. However new nutritional strategies are needed to counteract this epidemic. In this sense, “omics” technologies, which include metabolomics, are helping to understand the mechanisms by which foods may influence the metabolism and how they may contribute to host health. Nowadays, globalization allows populations to buy food from distant countries and eat seasonal fruits and vegetables all year long, independent of the season of the consumer. According to the xenohormesis theory, animals receive signals from plants that give clues about the changing environment, and thus, depending on the season of the year, animals develop physiological changes to adapt in advance to the seasonal changes. This means that the consumption of fruit and vegetables from a specific season or photoperiod could have different effects on metabolism, depending on the season of consumption, which could contribute to the development of obesity and related disorders. However, only a limited number of animal studies have been performed up to now, and no research has been conducted in humans, thus, more evidence is needed to analyze the influence of food seasonality on health parameters. In this study, thirty overweight and obese participants were recruited, and a two-week dietary intervention based on a Mediterranean diet was conducted in spring and autumn. Participants were provided with seasonal fruit and vegetables each week during spring intervention and with the same type of vegetable products (out of season) during autumn intervention. The aim of this research was to study the influence of seasonal vs. out of season vegetable products consumption in the metabolic profile of participants.
