Plant polyphenols as dietary antioxidants

in human health and disease

Publication Date:
2009-11-01

Institutions involved:

University of Maryland
Harvard Medical School
University of Naples Federico II
National Institutes of Health

Participants:
Literature review

Dosage:
Dietary polyphenol intake via fruits, tea, and wine

Key Takeaways:

Decades of research strongly suggests that long-term consumption of diets rich in polyphenols offer protection against aging and age-related pathologies.

A compelling body of research shows that polyphenols can cross the blood-brain barrier and reverse markers of aging in brain and behavior.

From the authors: "Polyphenols are dietary antioxidants and signaling agents exerting diverse protective effects against age-related chronic diseases."

Apple Poly Summary:

Why Is This Study Important? This foundational review integrates decades of research on dietary polyphenols, highlighting their potential to combat chronic diseases through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and gene-regulatory mechanisms. It connects molecular pathways to functional outcomes in cardiovascular health, neuroprotection, cancer prevention, metabolic control, and aging. The evidence aligns polyphenols with modern public health goals, encouraging deeper translational applications in functional foods and supplements.

You Should Know: I've been researching anti-aging science, medicine and nutrition for 34 years. For the last twenty, I've been telling you about the vast benefits of certain polyphenols. I'm thrilled when I see studies and journal papers like this, because discoveries of this magnitude are exactly what I hoped was possible 34 years ago.

In Plain English: Eating plants rich in polyphenols—like berries, tea, and apples—may help protect your heart, brain, and skin, and keep your blood sugar in check. These natural compounds help your body fight stress and inflammation and may even help slow aging.

For Medical Professionals: This review summarizes key biochemical pathways by which plant polyphenols exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and metabolic modulation effects. Mechanisms include enzyme inhibition, reactive species scavenging, modulation of MMPs, COX, SIRT1, and signaling cascades such as NF-κB and IGF-1. Bioavailability is subclass-specific, and microbial metabolism plays a defining role in generating bioactive derivatives.

Abstract:

Polyphenols are secondary metabolites of plants and are generally involved in defense against ultraviolet radiation or aggression by pathogens. In the last decade, there has been much interest in the potential health benefits of dietary plant polyphenols as antioxidant. Epidemiological studies and associated meta-analyses strongly suggest that long term consumption of diets rich in plant polyphenols offer protection against development of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases. Here we present knowledge about the biological effects of plant polyphenols in the context of relevance to human health.

"Plant polyphenols as dietary antioxidants in human health and disease." Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, vol. 2, no. 5, Nov. 2009, pp. 257–278. Wiley Online Library, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.4161/oxim.2.5.9498.