People who regularly consume polyphenol-rich foods and drinks, such as tea, coffee, berries, cocoa, nuts, whole grains and olive oil, may have better long-term heart health.<\/p>\n
The research, led by King\u2019s College London, found that those with higher adherence to polyphenol-rich dietary patterns had lower predicted cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.<\/p>\n
Polyphenols are natural compounds found in plants that are linked to various health benefits, including improved heart, brain, and gut health.<\/p>\n
The study, published today in BMC Medicine, followed more than 3,100 adults from the TwinsUK cohort for over a decade, found that diets rich in specific groups of polyphenols were linked to healthier blood pressure and cholesterol profiles, contributing to lower CVD risk scores.<\/p>\n
For the first time, the researchers also analysed a large number of metabolites in the urine that are produced when the body breaks down polyphenols.<\/p>\n
These biomarkers confirmed that individuals with higher levels of polyphenol metabolites\u2014especially those derived from specific groups of polyphenols, flavonoids and phenolic acids – had lower cardiovascular risk scores. They also had increased HDL cholesterol, also know as \u2018good\u2019 cholesterol.<\/p>\n
The study used a newly developed polyphenol dietary score (PPS) to capture intake of 20 key polyphenol-rich foods commonly consumed in the UK, ranging from tea and coffee to berries, olive oil, nuts, and whole grains.<\/p>\n
This score showed stronger associations with cardiovascular health than estimates of total polyphenol intake, likely because it captures overall dietary patterns rather than individual compounds.<\/p>\n
This finding suggests that considering the whole diet provides a more accurate picture of how polyphenol-rich foods work together to support long-term heart health.<\/p>\n
Dr Yong Li, first author of the study, added: \u201cThis research provides strong evidence that regularly including polyphenol-rich foods in your diet is a simple and effective way to support heart health. These plant compounds are widely available in everyday foods, making this a practical strategy for most people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers note that while cardiovascular risk naturally increases with age, higher polyphenol intake was associated with a slower progression of risk over the 11-year follow-up period. They also emphasise the need for future dietary intervention studies to further validate these associations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People who regularly consume polyphenol-rich foods and drinks, such as tea, coffee, berries, cocoa, nuts, whole grains and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[102,6636,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-286803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}