Fiber2026-06

Multi-Axis Functional Mechanisms of the Milpa Diet in Obesity: A Scoping Review.

Ramos Josué, Salas Rogelio, Salazar-Guerrero Carolina, Gaspar Jimena et al. — Nutrients

Summary

The traditional Milpa Diet, a plant-based eating pattern from Mesoamerica centered on corn, beans, and squash, has been reviewed for its potential role in combating obesity. This diet is rich in fiber and beneficial plant compounds that may help reduce inflammation, improve gut health, and regulate fat metabolism, offering a multi-faceted approach to metabolic well-being.

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Key points

The Milpa Diet is a traditional plant-based eating pattern featuring corn, beans, and squash, along with other vegetables.
This diet provides significant dietary fiber and a variety of beneficial plant compounds.
These components may help reduce inflammation, improve gut health, and regulate fat metabolism, which are all relevant to obesity.
The Milpa Diet offers a holistic approach to potentially mitigate metabolic issues linked to obesity.

What the study looked at

This study explored **what question** the Milpa Diet, a traditional Mesoamerican eating pattern primarily composed of corn, beans, and squash, might offer in addressing the complex mechanisms behind obesity. Researchers wanted to understand how this plant-rich diet could influence factors like inflammation, gut health, and fat metabolism, which are all connected to weight gain and related health problems. **How it was studied**, the researchers conducted a "scoping review." This means they systematically gathered and summarized existing scientific studies, both from laboratory experiments and human trials, that investigated the effects of the Milpa Diet's main ingredients. They looked for evidence related to how these foods impact inflammation, oxidative stress, fat cell development, mitochondrial function, and the gut microbiome. **What it found** was that the core foods of the Milpa Diet are rich in dietary fiber and a wide array of beneficial plant compounds. These compounds appear to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The review suggested that these components can positively influence how the body handles fat, protect cellular energy factories (mitochondria), and promote a healthy balance of gut bacteria. Collectively, these effects could help manage the metabolic issues associated with obesity.

Dietary takeaway

This review highlights that diets rich in whole, plant-based foods, like the traditional Milpa Diet, provide essential dietary fiber and a variety of beneficial compounds that can support metabolic health. Incorporating more fiber-rich foods such as beans, corn, squash, and other vegetables into your daily meals could contribute to reducing inflammation and improving gut health, which are important for managing weight. Remember, while promising, this is a summary of existing research, and no single study provides definitive answers; a balanced and varied diet is always key.

Abstract

Obesity is a multifactorial metabolic disorder characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, lipotoxicity, dysregulated adipogenesis, and alterations in the gut microbiota, which collectively contribute to insulin resistance and cardiometabolic complications. In this context, dietary patterns rich in bioactive compounds have gained relevance as potential strategies to modulate these interconnected pathways. To assess the potential of the Milpa Diet (a sustainable, plant-dominant Mesoamerican eating pattern centered on the ancient three sisters' polyculture of maize, beans, and squash, along with chili) as a culturally relevant, multi-axis functional dietary pattern, and to evaluate the molecular mechanisms underlying obesity-associated with metabolic dysfunction. A scoping review of preclinical and clinical studies was conducted using Medline via PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The ChEMBL database was also used to identify chemical structures. The search focused on evidence related to inflammation, oxidative stress, adipogenesis, lipotoxicity, mitochondrial function, and gut microbiota modulation in the context of the main foods of the Milpa Diet, including maize, legumes, chili peppers, nopal, and quelites. Studies were selected based on peer-review status and their relevance to molecular, metabolic, and functional outcomes. : The current evidence shows that the core components of the Milpa Diet provide dietary fiber and a broad range of bioactive compounds, such as flavonoids, carotenoids, capsaicinoids, phenolic acids, pigments, and vitamins, which exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. These compounds have been associated with modulation of adipogenesis and lipotoxicity, preservation of mitochondrial function, and favorable regulation of gut microbiota composition and activity, collectively influencing metabolic pathways relevant to obesity. Overall, mechanistic and emerging clinical evidence suggests that the Milpa Diet represents a multi-axis nutritional strategy with potential to mitigate obesity-related metabolic dysfunction through coordinated effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, adipogenesis, lipotoxicity, mitochondrial function, and gut microbiota regulation. Although comprehensive clinical trials evaluating this dietary pattern as an integrated intervention remain limited, current evidence supports its relevance for future translational research, public health strategies, and the development of sustainable dietary models aimed at improving metabolic health.

View on PubMed →DOI: 10.3390/nu18121991