The present invention has its object to provide an agent for preventing and/or ameliorating life style-related diseases which contains, as an active ingredient, a substance derived from a safe food material having a long history of being eaten as a food and which is capable of being utilized as functional foods such as health foods or functional health foods (specific health foods, functional nutritive foods). The agent for preventing and/or ameliorating life style-related diseases according to the invention contains, as an active ingredient, at least one compound selected from the group consisting of ar-turmerone, .alpha.-turmerone, .beta.-turmerone, curlone, bisacumol and .beta.-sesquiphellandrene, or at least one compound selected from among the bisabolane type sesquiterpenoids derived from Curcuma longa L., and therefore is useful for preventing and/or ameliorating diabetes, visceral fat obesity, metabolic syndrome and obesity, among others.