Effects of Functional Food Diets on Cardiometabolic and Metabolomics Profiles in Minority Youth

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PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT This proposal outlines a career development plan to help Dr. Jaapna Dhillon complete her postdoctoral training and establish an independent research program focused on personalized dietary interventions to reduce cardiometabolic risk in minority populations. Her training will be conducted in a multidisciplinary group of scientists with research expertise in nutrition science, health disparities, molecular cell biology, metabolomics and computational biology. Her advisory team will provide an outstanding training environment that will allow her to fill critical gaps in her toolkit needed to use an integrative and personalized approach to nutrition. This award will enhance her knowledge in developing culturally sensitive nutrition interventions and cardiovascular physiology, and provide advanced training in metabolomics and computational biology. During the training phase of this award, she will strengthen her scholarly activities, establish important collaborations, and acquire critical data that will ensure her successful transition to independence. Rational: The incidence of diet-related cardiometabolic disorders is increasing at an alarming rate in racial/ethnic minority groups such as Asians and Hispanics, and are much higher than Non-Hispanic Whites in the United States. [8]. However, whether improvements in diet quality will influence minority groups at high risk of cardiometabolic diseases differentially than Whites at high risk is not well understood. Functional foods such as nuts, whole grains and vegetables can help ameliorate cardiovascular disease and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, most studies on functional foods and health have been overwhelmingly performed in middle-aged to older non-Hispanic White adults, with young minority populations being greatly neglected. Adapting a functional food diet at earlier life stages may prevent or ameliorate metabolic disorders later in life in minority populations that are at greater risk for developing chronic metabolic diseases. Our central hypothesis is that adapting a personalized functional food diet at earlier life stages will have greater beneficial effects on carbohydrate and lipid regulation pathways in minority youth at risk for developing cardiometabolic disorders compared to White youth at risk. Design: The mentored phase study will 1) examine the effects of almonds on blood glucose regulation pathways using metabolomics techniques and 2) provide preliminary data for the development and testing of a model that can predict effects of almonds on metabolic consequences in minority youth. The independent phase study will evaluate the long term effects of a personalized diet rich in functional foods on pathways of carbohydrate and lipid regulation in relation to the gut microbiome and cardiovascular outcomes in minority youth at high risk for cardiometabolic disorders. Relevance: The proposed studies will provide an initial evidence base for the health benefits of personalized functional food interventions in minority youth. This innovative dietary strategy may be more effective at reducing risk and ameliorating diet-related cardiometabolic disorders than conventional dietary advice in this population.