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Editorial             Open Access 
 

Functional foods and bioactive molecules with relevance to health and 

chronic disease 

 

   Ian James Martins1,2,3 

 
1Centre of Excellence in Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Care, School of Medical and Health 

Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, 6027, Australia; 2School of 

Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 6009, 

Australia; 3McCusker Alzheimer's Research Foundation, Hollywood Medical Centre, 85 Monash 

Avenue, Suite 22, Nedlands, 6009, Australia 

 

Corresponding author: Dr Ian Martins, School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 

270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia 

 

Submission Date: September 1st, 2017, Acceptance Date: October 27th, 2017, Publication Date: 

October 31st, 2017 

 

Citation: Martins IJ, Functional Foods and Active molecules with relevance to Health and 

Chronic disease: Editorial. Functional Foods in Health and Disease 2017; 7(10): 849-852. 

https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v7i10.387 
 

Keywords: calorie sensitive gene, nutrition, mitophagy, senescence, active biomolecules, 

diabetes, functional foods, caffeine, chronic disease 

 

EDITORIAL  

In recent years, food scientists have published several articles which state how functional foods 

contain known, effective biologically-active compounds [1]. Some of these biologically-active, 

non-toxic compounds have advantageous physiological effects [1] and could play an important 

role in current global chronic disease epidemics. Functional food science [2] has become essential 

to the treatment strategies for various diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and neurodegenerative 

diseases (Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease) [3].  These diseases have significantly 

increased in this century. For example, the incidence of diabetes has been predicted to increase to 

21% and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to 40% of the global population by 2050. 

       Nutritional science provides functional foods with the required amount of natural antioxidants, 

vitamins, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and other components required to maintain the immune 

system and for the survival of cells [4-6]. The majority of health benefits and physiological 

activities attributed to various functional foods and nutrients such as polyphenols which are 

important for brain health [7-9] require more scientific research to understand the role of caffeine 

as a dietary supplement [10, 11]. Defective caffeine metabolism [12-14] with relevance to the 

global NAFLD epidemic is linked to the defective adipose tissue-liver cross talk [15] and brain 

interaction (Figure 1). Furthermore, caffeine may interfere with novel functional food therapy [1-

4] with relevance to brain function and the adipose tissue crosstalk [16, 17]. 



Functional Foods in Health and Disease 2017; 7(10): 849-852                                                  Page 850 of 852 
 

                        
 

Figure 1. The use of functional foods and bioactive molecules to maintain connections between 

the brain and the adipose tissue-liver crosstalk has accelerated with relevance to the global NAFLD 

and diabetes epidemic. Nutritional science has become important to the brain and liver function 

with caffeine metabolism important to the function of bioactive molecules with relevance to the 

global NAFLD and diabetes epidemic. 

 

       Appetite control [18] with nutritional therapy has become of central importance, as early 

nutritional therapy that may assist to delay mitochondrial apoptosis connected to liver and brain 

disease (Figure 1) associated with diabetes and aging. A high fibre diet [19] that is low in fat and 

improves glucose regulation [20] activates the calorie sensitive gene Sirtuin 1 (Sirt 1) that is a 

NAD(+) dependent class III histone deacetylase protein linked to various chronic diseases [21]. 

Consequently, major unsolved challenges to advances in biology may now provide evidence to 

reverse Sirt 1 dysfunction which is connected primarily to mitochondrial apoptosis [22, 23]. 

Consumption of Sirt 1 activators [12] are essential to maintain Sirt 1 function in various tissues 

and to prevent Sirt 1 inhibitors such as food bacterial lipopolysaccharides that are associated with 

programmed cell death [24-28]. Novel and critical elements of scholarly peer review provide 

information of how the Sirt 1 is the heat shock gene and its repression is relevant to mitochondrial 

apoptosis in multiple organ disease syndrome, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases [21]. 

        Biological active compounds/functional foods are essential to restore mitochondrial function 

[29] in the treatment of health and chronic disease strategies. Over-nutrition, defective caffeine 

metabolism, and food quality induces Sirt 1 repression [24-28] and overrides the beneficial effects 

of biological active food components [1, 3, 5, 29] that are essential in the treatment of global 

chronic disease (Figure 1). 

 

List of Abbreviations: NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Sirt 1, Sirtuin 1. 

 

Competing Interests: Authors declare no conflicts of interest. 

 

Acknowledgements and Funding: This work was supported by grants from Edith Cowan 

University, the McCusker Alzheimer's Research Foundation, and the National Health and 

Medical Research Council.     



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