Abstract

Obesity has many angles to its cause. Epidemiological works on diets and diet components show that obesity and other metabolic diseases are controlled to a large extent with proper diet and lifestyle. Most works with plant-based diets are noteworthy; they stimulate mechanisms in the host that proffer health, either through calorie restrictive pathways and the positive stimulation of the gut-brain cross-talks through fiber fermentation. Due to the heterogeneity of individuals, no one solution is fitting; therefore dieticians are partnering with other scientists to promote Precision nutrition that considers individual differences in the host’s gene pool and healthy daily calorie intake. Such patterned diet help prevent obesity and maintain healthy weights by supplying more nutritional, low-energy dense diet components and minimal high-energy dense components that aid the accumulation of excess fatty acids and forming obese conditions. Examples of similar wholesome food patterns are the Healthy Mediterranean-Style Eating system (HMSE) and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH). A road map is already in the design stage by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nutrition Research Task Force and is promissory.

Keywords: Precision nutrition; Obesity; Gut-microbiota; Wholesome diets; Healthy Mediterranean-Style Eating system (HMSE); Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH); Metabolic diseases; Short-chain fatty acids-SCFAs