Polyphenols Health Benefits

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Zachary Lyon, One of Thousands of Health and Fitness Coaches on Noomii.

Polyphenols are the thousands of different color pigments in foods. They act as direct antioxidants but also, it is thought, as chemicals which improve cell signaling, receptor sensitivity, improve inflammation responses, and gene regulation. (1)
Epigenetics anyone?

I found a review of studies on the Bioavailability of Polyphenols in food.

This is an important topic because although we know many polyphenols have antioxidant activity in vitro it is not established or even thought by some that most polyphenols ever reach their “target tissue” in the body. If the polyphenol did it would be able to scavenge for free radicals at that site.

There are likely many undiscovered functions of polyphenols and many undiscovered systems that polyphenols use in the human body.

So there is a real need for additional research on the bioavailability of polyphenols in humans.

Polyphenols are found in nearly everything.
Fruit, vegetables, green tea, black tea, red wine and grape skins, coffee, chocolate, olives, and extra virgin olive oil, herbs, spices, nuts, algae, black berries, blueberries, bee pollen, cacao

Determining which ones are the most bioavailable could lead to a more optimized diet. Right now the best advice we have is to “eat the rainbow”, but is it probable that there is the ability to optimize.

Genetic testing could also suggest the best polyphenols for each person as an individual (not to mention all other nutrients).

Polyphenols can of course act as antioxidants by scavenging free radicals, but recently there has been interest in much more complex antioxidant capabilities.

“They can inhibit cancer cell proliferation and cholesterol uptake [12,13], modulate different enzymes including telomerase ¹⁴ cycloxygenase [15,16] and lipoxygenase [17–19], and interact with several signal transduction pathways [20–24]. Moreover, polyphenols can affect caspase-dependent pathways [25,26], cell cycle regulation ²⁷, and platelet functions ²⁸, and they are also able to prevent endothelial dysfunctions ²⁹. “

“Even though a compound has strong antioxidative or other biological activities in vitro, it would have little biological activity in vivo if little or none of the compound gets to the target tissues.”

Main Factors Affecting the Bioavailability of dietary polyphenols in humans.

External factors –
Environmental factors (i.e., sun exposure, degree of ripeness); food availability

Food processing related factors –
Thermal treatments; homogenization; liophylization; cooking and methods of culinary preparation; storage

Food related factors
Food matrix; presence of positive or negative effectors of absorption (i.e., fat, fiber)

Interaction with other compounds –
Bonds with proteins (i.e., albumin) or with polyphenols with similar mechanism of absorption

Polyphenols related factors –
Chemical structure; concentration in food; amount introduced

Host related factors –
Intestinal factors (i.e., enzyme activity; intestinal transit time; colonic microflora).
Systemic factors – (i.e., gender and age; disorders and/or pathologies; genetics; physiological condition)

The study has much more information about each of these 6 factors.

So why Supplement?
1) Levels of polyphenols in food vary widely from season to season and variety to variety.
2) You can consume much more concentrated amounts of polyphenols from supplements. For example, you can get the equivalent of several gallons worth of resveratrol in wine from a pill or two of supplemental resveratrol.

Interesting bit:
Concentration of phenolic compounds in extra virgin olive oil decreased with the ripeness of olive fruits (1), (2)

I am a Denver Health and Wellness Coach. I can guide you in the right direction and towards your health and wellness goals by using a wellness program fitted for you as an individual.

I can create an employee wellness plan that maximizes the health and wellness of your employees. A healthy diet includes a diverse array polyphenols

I have certified nutritionist meal plans that will get you to your health goals.

www.zaklyon.com/team-with-zak/