Molecular Interaction Networks and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: The Role of Food Bioactive Small Molecules

Abstract

Diet is a well-known modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of death worldwide. However, our current understanding of the human diet is still limited in terms of fully capturing the role of dietary compounds in the intraspecies and interspecies biochemical networks that determine our health. This is due, in part, to a lack of detailed information on the presence of small molecules in food (molecular weight, ≤1000 daltons), their amounts, and their interactions with known protein targets. As a result, our ability to develop a mechanistic understanding of how food chemicals impact our health is limited. In recent years, the Foodome project has tackled several aspects of this challenging universe, leveraging the expertise of a diverse group of scientific communities, from computer science to epidemiology. Here, we review the most recent efforts of the Foodome project in mapping the chemical complexity of food and predicting its effect on human health. Leveraging the network medicine framework applied to Amla—a medicinal plant—we offer a rationale for future research on the mechanism of action of food bioactive small molecules, whose designing principles could inspire next-generation drug discovery and combinations.

GroceryDB: Prevalence of Processed Food in Grocery Stores

“…Governments increasingly acknowledge the impact of processed foods on population health, and its long-term effect on healthcare [ 52 , 53 ]. For example, the UK spends £18 billion annually on direct medical costs related to non-communicable diseases like obesity [ 54 ], while the US incurs $1.1 trillion in yearly food-related human health costs [ 55 , 56 ]. GroceryDB serves as a valuable resource for both consumers and policymakers, offering essential insights to gauge the level of food processing within the food supply.…”