Nutrition and Fitness: Obesity, the Metabolic Syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer

Recent studies of vascular biology using molecular biology techniques have started to reveal a previously unsuspected complexity of the vascular responses to nutrients and physical activity, thus explaining at the molecular level how healthy lifestyles interact with human genes and how they affect phenotype expression, even in the case of unfavorable genes. These findings have serious implications especially in establishing a solid scientific background for preventive strategies: for the advancement of healthy nutrition, physical activity and life habits, a thorough understanding of how drug/diet/gene interactions can act and multiply the beneficial effects of exercise is necessary. This first part of these conference proceedings is of great interest to researchers, physicians, exercise physiologists, geneticists, nutritionists, dietitians, food scientists, policy makers in government, private industry and international organizations, and public health workers worldwide.