The rise in the frequency of obesity has resulted in an alarming increase of the Metabolic Syndrome (MeS) consisting of a clustering of abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, and elevated blood pressure.
MeS is associated with a doubling of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and a five-fold increased risk for Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and consequently is a huge burden for both individuals and society.
Food quality and easy access to energy-dense food is considered a key factor responsible for this development.
However, there is limited evidence on the optimal dietary approach to prevent MeS, T2DM and CVD.
It is clear that weight loss and reduced total calorie intake are important factors, but the ideal proportion of the 3 main food components (carbohydrate, fat, and protein) that should be recommended to prevent MeS, T2DM and CVD remains unclear.
In the attempt to identify specific effects of nutrients the confounding effect of weight change on measured valuables should be avoided.
Research on prevention of MeS, T2DM and CVD is focussed on: