Effects of superfoods on risk factors of metabolic syndrome: a systematic review of human intervention trials (original) (raw)
* Corresponding authors
a Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center+ (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands
E-mail: r.mensink@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Tel: +31 (0)43 3881308
Abstract
Functional foods can be effective in the prevention of metabolic syndrome and subsequently the onset of cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes mellitus. More recently, however, another term was introduced to describe foods with additional health benefits: “superfoods”, for which, to date, no generally accepted definition exists. Nonetheless, their consumption might contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndrome, for example due to the presence of potentially bioactive compounds. This review provides an overview of controlled human intervention studies with foods described as “superfoods” and their effects on metabolic syndrome parameters. First, an Internet search was performed to identify foods described as superfoods. For these superfoods, controlled human intervention trials were identified until April 2017 investigating the effects of superfood consumption on metabolic syndrome parameters: waist circumference or BMI, blood pressure, or concentrations of HDL cholesterol, triacylglycerol or glucose. Seventeen superfoods were identified, including a total of 113 intervention trials: blueberries (8 studies), cranberries (8), goji berries (3), strawberries (7), chili peppers (3), garlic (21), ginger (10), chia seed (5), flaxseed (22), quinoa (1), cocoa (16), maca (1), spirulina (7), wheatgrass (1), acai berries (0), hemp seed (0) and bee pollen (0). Overall, only limited evidence was found for the effects of the foods described as superfoods on metabolic syndrome parameters, since results were not consistent or the number of controlled intervention trials was limited. The inconsistencies might have been related to intervention-related factors, such as duration or dose. Furthermore, conclusions may be different if other health benefits are considered.
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Article information
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7FO01792H
Article type
Review Article
Submitted
14 Nov 2017
Accepted
10 Feb 2018
First published
12 Feb 2018
Download Citation
Food Funct., 2018,9, 1944-1966
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Effects of superfoods on risk factors of metabolic syndrome: a systematic review of human intervention trials
J. J. van den Driessche, J. Plat and R. P. Mensink,Food Funct., 2018, 9, 1944DOI: 10.1039/C7FO01792H
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