A diet rich in foods containing polyphenols — which coffee has in spades — can dramatically reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of health conditions that is a major risk factor for heart disease, according to newly published research.
The research team from Brazil found that consuming polyphenol-packed foods such as coffee, grapes, strawberries, acai, oranges, chocolate and wine can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome by as much as 23%.
Polyphenols are bioactive compounds with well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In coffee, polyphenols in the form of chlorogenic acids have routinely been associated with beneficial health outcomes, such as reduced inflammation when coffee and milk are combined and protection of brains against the effects of stress.
The authors of the new study noted that polyphenols have been associated with all kinds of positive health outcomes through their associations with different foods, but they said their study was the “largest in the world to associate the effects of consuming polyphenols with protection against cardiometabolic problems.”
The study sample included more than 6,000 people over a span of eight years.
“Our findings in this study leave no room for doubt: promoting diets rich in polyphenols can be a valuable strategy for reducing the risk of cardiometabolic disease and preventing metabolic syndrome,” Isabela Benseñor, a professor at the University of São Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP) and study co-author, said in an announcement of the results.
Out of 6,378 participants analyzed, 2,031 developed metabolic syndrome, which is clinically diagnosed when at least three of the following conditions are present: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), high triglycerides, and high lipids (dyslipidemia).
The study involved detailed interviews to find out about the participants’ dietary habits and the frequency with which they ingested 92 polyphenol-rich foods, with the effects of different cooking and processing methods taken into consideration.
The study concluded that consumption of polyphenols from different foods at the highest estimated level (469 milligrams per day) reduced the risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 23%, compared to the lowest level (177 milligrams per day). Consumption of phenolic acids — identified as a specific class of polyphenols abundant in coffee, red wine and tea — reduced risk by a similar amount.
“Regardless of the various cardiometabolic risk factors, such as sex, age, smoking and physical activity, participants who ingested more polyphenols were up to 30 times less likely to develop high blood pressure or insulin resistance, and 17 times less likely to have elevated triglycerides,” study co-author Renata Carnaúba said.
The full study was published in the Journal of Nutrition, a journal of the American Society for Nutrition.
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