Bioavailability of non-nutrients for preventing lifestyle-related diseases

Food includes not only nutrients, which are essential in ATP-producing energy metabolisms, sugars, proteins, lipids, vitamins, and minerals, but also non-nutrients that are not, such as phenolics, terpenoids, sulfate-containing chemicals, alkaloids, and indigestible polysaccharides. Plant-derived non-nutrients were recently found to play important roles in modulating the metabolism and preventing degenerative diseases. At intestinal absorption process, most non-nutrients undergo conjugation with glucuronic acid or sulfate on their functional groups and are excreted into the digestive lumen. In order to better understand how non-nutrients work to prevent disease, it is critical that these bioavailable functional compounds be identified in the diets. The bioactive functions of these compounds include: antioxidant potential to scavenge reactive oxygen species and protein function-modulating activity that dynamically regulates the metabolic functions of proteins, enzymes, transporters, receptors, and signaling transduction proteins that related to various lifestyle-related diseases, e.g., obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease. The Japanese Society for Food Factors (JSoFF) is interested in bioavailability and investigates the preventative functions of non-nutrients in vegetables, fruits and teas. In this review, the work of the JSoFF will be summarized including their work on classifying bioavailable and disease-preventive phytochemicals.