Gut microbiota is a group of microorganisms that are deposited throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract. Currently, thanks to genomic tools, studies of gut microbiota have pointed towards the understanding of the metabolism of important bacteria that are not cultivable and their relationship with human homeostasis. Alterations in the composition of gut microbiota could explain, at least in part, some epidemics, such as diabetes and obesity. Likewise, dysbiosis has been associated with gastrointestinal disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and even cancer. That is why several studies have recently been focused on the direct relationship that these types of conditions have with the specific composition of gut microbiota, as in the case of the microbiota–intestine–brain axis. In the same way, the control of microbiota is related to the diet. Therefore, this review highlights the importance of gut microbiota, from its composition to its relationship with the human health–disease condition, as well as emphasizes the effect of probiotic and prebiotic consumption on the balance of its composition.

Obesity is a disease characterized by an inflammatory process in the adipose tissue due to diverse infiltrated immune cells, an increased secretion of proinflammatory molecules, and a decreased secretion of anti-inflammatory molecules. On the other hand, obesity increases the risk of several diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Their treatment is based on nutritional and pharmacological strategies. However, natural products are currently implemented as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Polyphenols and fiber are naturally compounds with potential action to reduce inflammation through several pathways and play an important role in the prevention and treatment of obesity, as well as in other non-communicable diseases. Hence, this review focuses on the recent evidence of the molecular mechanisms of polyphenols and dietary fiber, from Scopus, Science Direct, and PubMed, among others, by using key words and based on recent in vitro and in vivo studies.

The consumption of vegetables in Mexico includes a wide variety of plants that grow naturally as weeds in the fields. The intake of these vegetables is very important in the Mexican diet because these plants supply an important input of nutrients and compounds such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Thus, the plants may be universally promoted as healthy. However, there is little information about these vegetables of popular consumption, especially in terms of the nutritional changes caused by boiling. To determine the influence of boiling on five plants of popular consumption in Mexico, the nutritional composition (proximal analysis, dietary fiber, and oxalates), antioxidant compounds (ascorbic acid, phenolics), antioxidant activity (measured by ABTS and DPPH assays), and physicochemical characteristics (water retention capacity, viscosity, color, and SEM) were evaluated. The boiling affected the nutritional composition of plants, mainly soluble compounds as carbohydrates (sugars and soluble fiber), ash, ascorbic acid, and phenolic compounds and caused changes in food hydration and color. Therefore, it is recommended that these plants be consumed raw or with short boiling times and included the cooking water in other preparations to take advantage of the nutrients released in the food matrix. In the future, to complete studies, 3 to 5 min of cooking should be considered to minimize undesirable modifications in terms of the vegetables’ composition.

Inflammation and oxidative stress are essential components in a myriad of pathogenic entities that lead to metabolic and chronic diseases. Moreover, inflammation in its different phases is necessary for the initiation and maintenance of a healthy pregnancy. Therefore, an equilibrium between a necessary/pathologic level of inflammation and oxidative stress during pregnancy is needed to avoid disease development. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are important for a healthy pregnancy and a good neonatal outcome. Their role in fetal development during challenging situations is vital for maintaining the equilibrium. However, in certain conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and other cardiovascular diseases, it has been observed that HDL loses its protective properties, becoming dysfunctional. Bioactive compounds have been widely studied as mediators of inflammation and oxidative stress in different diseases, but their mechanisms of action are still unknown. Nonetheless, these agents, which are obtained from functional foods, increase the concentration of HDL, TRC, and antioxidant activity. Therefore, this review first summarizes several mechanisms of HDL participation in the equilibrium between inflammation and oxidative stress. Second, it gives an insight into how HDL may act as a vector for bioactive compounds. Third, it describes the relationships between the inflammation process in pregnancy and HDL activity. Consequently, different databases were used, including MEDLINE, PubMed, and Scopus, where scientific articles published in the English language up to 2023 were identified.

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in the exploitation of by-products from fruits and vegetables, generated from industrial processing or human feeding. Residues of popularly consumed fruits such as orange, lemon, banana, pomegranate, among others, have been widely described and studied; however, cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) residues, as a locally consumed product, have been forgotten. The whole fruit can be divided into the edible portion (pulp) and the non-edible portion (seeds and peel). Several studies mainly focus on the characteristics of the edible portion or in the whole fruit, ignoring by-products such as peels, which are rich in compounds such as phenols, flavonoids and dietary fiber; they have also been proposed as an alternative source of lipids, carbohydrates and natural colorants. Some uses of the peel have been reported as a food additives, food supplements, as a source of pectins and for wastewater treatment; however, there have not been any deep investigations of the characteristics and potential uses of the cactus pear peel (CPP). The aim of the present paper is to provide an overview of the current research on CPP. CPP has many bio-active compounds that may provide health benefits and may also be useful in pharmaceutical, food and manufacturing industries; however, greater research is needed in order to gain thorough knowledge of the possibilities of this by-product.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading causes of death in the world, and epidemiological evidence points to dietary habits, stress, and obesity as major risk factors promoting pathological conditions like atherosclerosis, hypertension, and thrombosis. Current therapeutic approaches for CVDs rely on lifestyle changes and/or the use of drug agents. However, since the efficacy of such interventions is often limited by poor compliance and/or significant side effects, continued research on new preventive and therapeutic approaches is much needed. Our study is aimed to determine the bioaccessibility, total content of phenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity (DPPH · , ABTS ^{· +} ) of a methanolic extract from Mangifera indica L. leaves (MEM), and its lipid-lowering effect on an induced dyslipidemia model in Wistar rats. Our results showed that mangiferin is the main component of MEM. The extract showed a total content of polyphenol compounds of 575.28 gallic acid equivalents per dry matter basis (GAE/g db), antioxidant activity 77.68 μ mol Trolox equivalents per gram (TE/g) db as measured by DPPH· and 20,630 μ mol TE/g db by ABTS ^{· +} , and 12% of phenolic compounds were bioaccessible, and 100 mg/kg of MEM reduced hyperlipidemia levels induced in Wistar rats. Further study on the potential use of MEM as a nutraceutical to prevent CVDs in high-fat diet consumers is required.