Page 8 - Nutrinsight-3

NutrInsight • Do we need dietary polyphenols for health?
Intake was estimated by using the recent Phenol-Explorer database. They found that 98 polyphenols were consumed at levels of more than 1 mg/day and the mean total intake was 1193 mg/day. The maximum intake was 1.8 g/day.
Previous studies in other countries reported daily polyphenol intake of 863 ± 415 mg/d in Finland [Ovaskainen et al., 2008] and 853 ± 512 mg/d from beverages in Japan [Fukushima et al., 2009].
Different cultural habits and food preferences could explain population differences and the great variability observed in polyphenol intake.
Estimation of daily intake of specific subclasses of polyphenols
Earlier estimations of intakes focussed on subclasses of polyphenols and were fairly low at 23 mg/day of flavonols and 200-300 mg/day of flavonoids [Hollman & Katan, 1999]. The Zamora-Ros study provides a more recent estimation of flavonoid intake of 313 mg/d from the EPIC-Spain cohort [Zamora-Ros et al., 2010]. Some of the most recent data on subclasses come from the French study [Pérez-Jiménez et al., 2011], where average flavonoid intake was 512 mg/day per person and hydroxycinnamates intake reached 599 mg/day
Dietary polyphenols intake in France
per person. These two classes were the major polyphenols consumed.
The difference in estimates observed above can come from underestimation of some compounds (polymeric, non-extractable, condensed compounds) by usual methods and the heterogeneity in the analytical methods used.
Main food contributors to intake of polyphenols
In the SUVIMAX French cohort, coffee and fruits are the main polyphenol providers with respective contributions of 520 mg/d and 206 mg/d. Tea, alcoholic beverages, cocoa products, and vegetables provide around 100 mg/d each; cereals provides 50 mg/d, and seeds, oils and seasonings contribute to a much lesser degree (Figure 3).
Considering the polyphenols subclasses, fruits are the main sources of flavonoids intake in the diet (35%), whereas nonalcoholic beverages (mainly coffee and tea) were the main sources of phenolic acids (nearly 80%).
1400
1200
1000
800 600
1193 ± 510 mg/day
Coffee
Fruits
520
206
112
99
90
81
400 Tea
200 0
Alcoholic beverages
Cocoa products
Vegetables
46 Cereal products 39 Other products
Figure 3 : Total dietary polyphenols intake in France (mg/day)
Source: Adapted from Pérez-Jiménez et al., 2011.
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Source: Dietary intake of 337 polyphenols in French adults, Pérez-Jiménez et al, AJCN, 2011.
mg/d