Molecules, July 2021
Celestino Santos-Buelga
“Dietary polyphenols have been associated with health benefits in the prevention of a range of degenerative and age-related diseases that constitute the major causes of death and incapacitation in developed countries. The first observations of the beneficial effects of food polyphenols were made by the Nobel laureate Albert Szent-Györgyi and coworkers in the 1930s, describing the ability of flavonoids extracted from lemon juice and paprika to counteract vascular failure associated with ascorbic acid deficiency [1,2]. Those findings led them to consider flavonoids as a vitamin (i.e., vitamin P) [3,4], a consideration that was maintained for several years until it was demonstrated that they were not indispensable [5]. Later on, in the 1990s, the interest in polyphenols was renewed with observations derived from the Zutphen and Seven Countries epidemiological studies, showing the existence of inverse relationships between the dietary intake of flavonoids and the risk of coronary heart disease [6,7]. Afterwards, a great deal of observational studies in different countries and population groups followed, leading to similar conclusions on the positive relation between consumption of flavonoids or polyphenols and protection against cardiovascular diseases in addition to other chronic conditions such as type II diabetes, different cancers, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases (see [8] for a review). Nowadays, it is considered that phenolic compounds contribute, at least in part, to the protective effects of plant-rich diets, and the elucidation of their role in human nutrition has become a relevant issue in food and pharmacological research.”
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KEY TAKEAWAY:
“Nowadays, it is considered that phenolic compounds contribute, at least in part, to the protective effects of plant-rich diets, and the elucidation of their role in human nutrition has become a relevant issue in food and pharmacological research.“
