Investigation of phytonutrients in the treatment of cardio-metabolic disease

This thesis investigated the effect of different foods such as spices (green cardamom and black cardamom), vegetables (beetroot), cereal grains (purple maize), fruits (chokeberry and Queen Garnet plum) and bioactive molecules (sodium nitrate and cyanidin 3-glucoside) on risk factors for metabolic syndrome using a diet-induced obese rat model. Obesity, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, hypertension and endothelial dysfunction are the major components of metabolic syndrome. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle including regular exercise together with a healthy and balanced diet has been recommended as the first-line of defence to prevent metabolic syndrome. However, with the growing prevalence of obesity worldwide, this complex disorder is considered to be a clinical challenge and an important public health concern. While current pharmaceutical drug therapies for obesity show some benefits, there are also multiple side effects. Hence, complementary and alternative therapies have become popular to reduce the incidence of metabolic syndrome with the aim of decreasing future health risks