Page 3 - Nutrinsight-3

E d i t o r i a l
Dr Margaret Ashwell OBE
Nutrition Consultant, Ashwell Associates, UK.
Kraft Foods Europe R&D organised a symposium at the 11th European Nutrition Conference organised by the Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) [http://www.fensmadrid2011. com]. The purpose was to share evidence about the potential health benefits of polyphenols including polyphenols from fruits, as well as from other food sources such as cocoa, coffee, and cereals.
The main dietary sources of polyphenols in the European diet appear to be beverages (coffee, tea, wine), fruits, cocoa products, and, to a lesser extent vegetables, legumes and cereals. Polyphenols are a large group of compounds which protect plants against a variety of stresses (Chapter 1). When consumed in our diet, they might be beneficial for health and wellbeing in adulthood and in the elderly population. Evidence for their protective effect is based on many epidemiological, clinical,
animal, cellular in vitro and mechanistic studies.
1 The regulation of appetite is a vital component of general health – both physical and psychological.
About the value
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Polyphenols exhibit a range of in vitro biological activities that are potentially in keeping with them protecting against age- related diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes
and cancer (Chapter 2). More importantly, there have been many
10 TH European Nutrition Conference Paris, 10-13 July 2007
observational and clinical studies on human subjects using polyphenol rich foods showing that biomarkers of cardiovascular risk, energy utilisation, digestion, inflammation, lipid metabolism and diabetes are often significantly improved. Many mechanisms of action have been proposed and it is quite clear that their role as antioxidant does not explain all the effects of polyphenols (Chapter 3).
This booklet is a summary of the symposium presentations by Prof F A. Tomás-Barberán (Research professor, CEBAS-CSIC, Murcia, Spain), Dr Paul Kroon (Research Leader - Polyphenols and Health Group, Institute of Food Research, Norwich, UK) and Dr Francesco Visioli (IMDEA-Food, Madrid, Spain).
Professor Tomás-Barberán set the scene by covering types, sources, consumption and bioavailability of dietary polyphenols (Chapter 1). Dr Kroon then gave an overview of the evidence of potential health benefits of polyphenols from epidemiological studies and intervention trials (Chapter 2). Finally, Dr Visioli discussed possible mechanisms by which these benefits could occur (Chapter 3).
The timing was particularly opportune since this FENS symposium followed very shortly after the 2011 International Conference of Polyphenols & Health held in Sitges, Barcelona [http://www. icph2011barcelona.com]. All three speakers had attended this comprehensive conference and this ensured that the information presented at this symposium was fully up to date. The symposium was very well attended and lively discussions followed each paper, which reflects the interest of the nutrition community for polyphenols and their potential for health.
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