Polyphenols may significantly lengthen seniors’ lives
A large, long-term Spanish study found that older men and women who eat polyphenol-rich diets may have up to a 30% reduction in mortality.
A large, long-term Spanish study found that older men and women who eat polyphenol-rich diets may have up to a 30% reduction in mortality.
The research is reportedly the first to use a nutritional biomarker to evaluate polyphenol consumption, rather than relying solely on food-frequency questionnaires.
The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Barcelona and was published in the Journal of Nutrition. The study included 807 Italian men and women, ages 65 and older, who participated in the InCHIANTI trial.
The subjects’ total urinary polyphenol (TUP) was measured when they enrolled in the study, and they also self-reported their polyphenol intake via questionnaires.
During the 12-year follow-up period, 34% of the study participants died. TUP data (adjusted for age and sex) showed that overall mortality was 30% less in the subjects who ate more than 650mg of polyphenols per day, compared with the subjects who ate fewer than 500mg of polyphenols daily.
However, the researchers didn’t find the same results when they examined the food-frequency questionnaires; in fact, there was no significant difference in mortality between the self-reported high-polyphenol consumers and the low-polyphenol consumers.
The researchers concluded that not only may polyphenols prolong lives, but also that it’s important to evaluate food consumption using nutritional biomarkers instead of, or in addition to, food-frequency questionnaires.