Leveraging millet's potential to mitigate metabolic syndrome: a comprehensive approach for managing lifestyle disorders.

Abstract

The "World Health Organization" predicts that non-communicable illnesses affect 41 million people globally, with cardiovascular disease accounting for 17.9 million and diabetes 2 million. The metabolic syndrome includes insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, high low-density lipoprotein, high triglycerides, and obesity, which contribute to coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Polyphenols and carotenoids in millet help regulate blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, thyroid function, colon health, obesity, and gut flora by modulating key transcription factors and epigenetic mechanisms. Further, nutrigenomics and epigenetics also highlight the potential of millets for precision nutrition, with some evidence of gene-diet interactions modulating metabolic outcomes. Regular millet consumption improves lipid profiles, insulin sensitivity, and oxidative stress, decreasing cardiovascular disease risk. Polymorphisms in the "Transcription Factor 7 Like 2 (TCF7L2)" gene affect glucose metabolism following millet consumption. Millet-based functional foods, including baby food, porridge, bread, cakes, and cookies, have a low glycemic index and help treat metabolic disorders. Their prebiotic characteristics promote gut health, which is essential for metabolic management and immune function. However, by integrating millet-based functional food, policy framework, and techno-functional framework, the present review proposes millet as a sustainable alternative functional crop in metabolic syndrome alleviation.