Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Latest Edition - Flipbook - Page 36
NOURISH
POLYPHENOLS, DIET
AND HEALTH
Why plant
compounds
matter more
than you think
BY ISSABELLA HOURIHAN, APD
When people think about
healthy eating, nutrients
like protein, 昀椀bre, vitamins,
and minerals usually come
to mind. But there’s another
group of compounds in
plant foods that is gaining
increasing attention
in nutrition science:
polyphenols. These naturally
occurring plant chemicals
may not be “essential” in
the same way vitamins are,
but research suggests they
can play an important
role in supporting longterm health.
What are polyphenols?
Polyphenols are a large
family of plant compounds
found in foods such as
fruit, vegetables, tea,
coffee, cocoa, nuts, seeds,
whole grains, herbs, and
spices. They contribute
to the colour, 昀氀avour, and
sometimes bitterness of
plant foods. Over 8,000
different polyphenols have
been identi昀椀ed, and they
are commonly grouped into
昀氀avonoids, phenolic acids,
stilbenes, and lignans.
A helpful way to think
about polyphenols is that
they are part of a plant’s
natural defence system.
When we eat them, they
may also support human
biological processes linked
to health.
