**Abstract**

Foods and herbs have long been used medicinally and the interest in natural product therapies have returned in the recent decades. PPARγ is a transcription factor that regulates expression of a variety of metabolic genes. The discovery of full activators of PPARγ have been useful in the treatment of diabetes but are not without side effects. The discovery of food based PPARγ ligands have allowed the exploration of natural treatment of a variety of diseases with potentially fewer side effects due to the ligand based activation rather than full activation. Here we present background on the PPARγ transcription factors and summarize several compounds and the food sources that have demonstrated therapeutic potential for disease states including diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

**Keywords:** PPARγ, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, nutraceuticals, cinnamon, diabetes, inflammation
