Micronutrients & recovery
Dietary (poly)phenolic compounds exert protective effects against chronic diseases (cardiovascular, neurodegeneration, cancer) primarily through their phase II metabolites and colonic catabolites, rather than the parent compounds found in food.
Eat a variety of (poly)phenol-rich foods like berries, tea, coffee, and cocoa. The health benefits are real, but they likely come from how your body and gut bacteria break these down into active metabolites, not from the original plant compounds circulating in your blood. Don't expect high-dose supplements of the parent compound to work like the whole food.
Human intervention trials have provided evidence for protective effects of various (poly)phenol-rich foods against chronic disease... after ingestion, dietary (poly)phenolics appear in the circulatory system not as the parent compounds, but as phase II metabolites... Substantial quantities of both the parent compounds and their metabolites pass to the colon where they are degraded by the action of the local microbiota, giving rise principally to small phenolic acid and aromatic catabolites that are absorbed into the circulatory system.
Why this rating
Based on a comprehensive review of human intervention trials and in vitro studies, though the authors note unresolved conclusions due to study limitations.
Source
Dietary (Poly)phenolics in Human Health: Structures, Bioavailability, and Evidence of Protective Effects Against Chronic Diseases
Daniele Del Rio et al. · Antioxidants and Redox Signaling · 2012
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