Cardiometabolic disorders including cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and impaired glucose regulation constitute a major and interrelated global health burden. Emerging evidence suggests that dietary patterns may affect cardiometabolic risk through multiple biological mechanisms beyond the effects of individual nutrients. This review focuses on the emerging roles of food-derived polyphenols, bioactive peptides, dietary fibers and fermented foods as complementary components of cardiometabolic nutrition. The effects of polyphenols on endothelial function, oxidative stress, inflammation, lipid metabolism and gut microbial transformation are discussed. The antihypertensive, lipid-regulating, antioxidant and metabolic activities of food-derived peptides are reviewed. The role of dietary fibers such as soluble fibers and resistant starches in satiety, blood glucose control, lipid metabolism, microbial fermentation and short-chain fatty acid production is discussed. Fermented foods are complex food matrices that provide microorganisms, metabolites produced during fermentation, modified phytochemicals, organic acids and bioactive peptides. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between food components and the gut microbiota, host metabolic signaling and properties of the food matrix. Mechanistic studies, animal models, observational and human intervention studies are reviewed to try to identify promising biological mechanisms and to distinguish them from clinically established effects. The review also discusses bioavailability, processing, interactions with food matrices, safety, standardization and challenges of translating individual bioactive components into practical functional foods. Emerging opportunities in the area of precision nutrition, multi-omics and computational approaches, and targeted food formulation are also addressed. Current evidence supports a food-based, matrix-aware approach, in which combinations of bioactive-rich foods may contribute to cardiometabolic risk management. Further well-designed long-term human studies are needed to establish dose, efficacy, sustainability and translational relevance.