Dietary patterns, including regular consumption of particular foods such as berries as well as bioactive compounds, may confer specific molecular and cellular protection in addition to the overall epidemiologically observed benefits of plant food consumption (lower rates of obesity and chronic disease risk), further enhancing health. Mounting evidence reports a variety of health benefits of berry fruits that are usually attributed to their non-nutritive bioactive compounds, mainly phenolic substances such as flavonoids or anthocyanins. Although it is still unclear which particular constituents are responsible for the extended health benefits, it appears that whole berry consumption generally confers some anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to humans and animals. With regards to cancer, studies have reported beneficial effects of berries or their constituents including attenuation of inflammation, inhibition of angiogenesis, protection from DNA damage, as well as effects on apoptosis or proliferation rates of malignant cells. Berries extend effects on the proliferation rates of both premalignant and malignant cells. Their effect on premalignant cells is important for their ability to cause premalignant lesions to regress both in animals and in humans. The present review focuses primarily on in vivo and human dietary studies of various berry fruits and discusses whether regular dietary intake of berries can prevent cancer initiation and delay progression in humans or ameliorate patients’ cancer status.

The gastrointestinal tract is populated by an array of microbial species that play an important role in metabolic and immune functions. The composition of microorganisms is influenced by the components of the host’s diet and can impact health. In the present study, dietary enrichment of lowbush wild blueberries (LWB) was examined to determine their effect on colon microbial composition and their potential in promoting gut health. The microbial composition and functional potential of the colon microbiota from Sprague Dawley rats fed control diets (AIN93) and LWB-enriched diets (AIN93+8% LWB powder substituting for dextrose) for 6 weeks were assessed using Illumina shotgun sequencing and bioinformatics tools. Our analysis revealed an alteration in the relative abundance of 3 phyla and 22 genera as representing approximately 14 and 8% of all phyla and genera identified, respectively. The LWB-enriched diet resulted in a significant reduction in the relative abundance of the genera Lactobacillus and Enterococcus. In addition, hierarchal analysis revealed a significant increase in the relative abundance of the phylum Actinobacteria, the order Actinomycetales, and several novel genera under the family Bifidobacteriaceae and Coriobacteriaceae, in the LWB group. Functional annotation of the shotgun sequences suggested that approximately 9% of the 4709 Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) hits identified were impacted by the LWB-diet. Open Reading Frames (ORFs) assigned to KEGG category xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism were significantly greater in the LWB-enriched diet compared to the control and included the pathway for benzoate degradation [PATH:ko00362] and glycosaminoglycan degradation [PATH:ko00531]. Moreover, the number of ORFs assigned to the bacterial invasion of epithelial cells [PATH:ko05100] pathway was approximately 8 fold lower in the LWB group compared to controls. This study demonstrated that LWBs have the potential to promote gut health and can aid in the development of optimal diets.

The Mediterranean diet is a food pattern incorporated into a set of lifestyle practices typical of Greece and Southern Italy in the early 1960s, where adult life expectancy was notably high, while rates of diet-related chronic diseases were low. The Mediterranean diet was described initially by the work of LG Allbaugh, commissioned by the Rockefeller foundation and the Greek government post-WW2 on the Greek island of Crete in 1948. The Mediterranean diet was accepted as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2013. The primary advantages of the Mediterranean diet include health benefits pertinent to cardiovascular, metabolic syndrome, and cognition.

The present study investigated the potential of a wild blueberry (WB)-enriched diet to improve blood lipid profile and modulate the expression of genes related to lipid homeostasis in obese Zucker rats (OZR), a model of the metabolic syndrome with severe dyslipidaemia. For this purpose, twenty OZR and twenty lean Zucker rats (LZR; controls) were placed either on a control (C) or an 8 % WB diet for 8 weeks. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol and TAG concentrations were determined. The relative expression of six genes involved in lipid metabolism was also determined in both the liver and the abdominal adipose tissue (AAT). Plasma TAG and TC concentrations were significantly lower in the OZR following WB consumption (4228 (sem471) and 2287 (sem125) mg/l, respectively) than in those on the C diet (5475 (sem315) and 2631 (sem129) mg/l,P< 0·05), while there was no change in HDL-cholesterol concentration. No significant effects were observed for plasma lipids in the LZR. Following WB consumption, the expression of the transcription factors PPARα and PPARγ in the OZR was increased in the AAT, while that of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP-1) was decreased in the liver and AAT. The expression of fatty acid synthase was significantly decreased in both the liver and AAT and that of ATP-binding cassette transporter 1 was increased in the AAT following WB consumption. In conclusion, WB consumption appears to improve lipid profiles and modulate the expression of key enzymes and transcription factors of lipid metabolism in severely dyslipidaemic rats.

Despite a considerable amount of data available on the relationship between dietary glycemic index (GI) or load (GL) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, in aggregate, the area remains unsettled. The aim of the present review was to summarize the effect of diets differing in GI/GL on CVD risk factors, by examining randomized controlled-feeding trials that provided all food and beverages to adult participants. The studies included a low and high GI/GL diet phase for a minimum of four weeks duration, and reported at least one outcome related to CVD risk; glucose homeostasis, lipid profile or inflammatory status. Ten publications representing five trials were identified. The low GI/GL compared to the high GI/GL diet unexpectedly resulted in significantly higher fasting glucose concentrations in two of the trials, and a lower area under the curve for glucose and insulin in one of the two studies during an oral glucose tolerance test. Response of plasma total, low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations was conflicting in two of the studies for which data were available. There was either weak or no effect on inflammatory markers. The results of the five randomized controlled trials satisfying the inclusion criteria suggest inconsistent effects of the GI/GL value of the diet on CVD risk factors.