Why are nuts, herbs, fruit and vegetables healthy? Because in addition to vitamins and minerals, it also contains polyphenols. Polyphenols are chemical compounds found in plants. Tea contains many tannins, which are very healthy polyphenols with antioxidant effects. Tea also has anticarcinogenic, or anti-cancer, effects. The polyphenols are the active substances that prevent oxidations and fight cancer cells. NB! This article is written from the personal view of the author and may contain information that is not scientifically substantiated and/or in line with the general view.

Contents

• Tannic acid, a tannin
• Quercetin
• Vegetables and fruit
• Anticarcinogens
• Resveratrol
• Milk spoils the effect of polyphenols

Tannic acid, a tannin

Polyphenols are divided into tannins, phenylpropanoids and flavonoids. The tannin category comes from leather processing. The leather is fixed and made stronger with tannic acid. In fact, the same thing happens in our mouth when we eat drinks or fruits containing tannin. Wine and strong tea containing a lot of tannic acid are examples of this; the oral cavity feels stiff after drinking these drinks. This is because tannin binds to proteins in the oral cavity.

Quercetin

Quercetin is a flavonoid that is found in apples, onions, capers, raspberries, grapes, citrus fruit, tomatoes, broccoli, green leafy vegetables and cranberries, among others. It has some anti-cancer properties but these are not very strong. Scientific research has shown that organically grown tomatoes contain 78% more quercetin and 97% more kaempferol, another flavonoid.

Vegetables and fruit

Polyphenols are found in many fruits and vegetables. In particular the pomegranate, grapes, berries, tea, olive oil, cocoa, mangosteen, ginkgo, walnuts and peanuts. Polyphenols are found not only in the flesh but also in the peel. Now you may think that this is of little use to you because people do not eat peels, except for a few fruits. Nevertheless, substances from the peel are sometimes used. When a pomegranate is squeezed, the polyphenols from the peel are also squeezed into the juice. In this way, a pressed juice can contain more polyphenols than just the pulp. Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice is healthier than pure pomegranate in terms of the amount of polyphenols. Citrus and mango peels also contain polyphenols.Like almost all chemical substances, polyphenols, which are very healthy in small doses, are toxic in large doses. Fortunately, most plants contain a small dose of polyphenol. 

Anticarcinogens

Polyphenols are anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogens, or cancer-fighting nutrients. Free radicals are eliminated by polyphenols. This means that polyphenols are classified as antioxidants . Free radicals can cause all kinds of harmful phenomena in the body, such as cell damage and DNA damage. They also reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Resveratrol

The best known polyphenol is resveratrol, which has cancer-fighting properties. Some chemotherapy patients eat this as a supplement to reduce the risk of cancer. There are even people who take this as a preventive measure against developing cancer. Resveratrol is not the name of one polyphenol, but of a category of polyphenols thatfall under the heading resveratrol. Examples of resveratrol are: carasifenol B and C, ampelopsin G and H and nepalensinol B. Resveratrol is found in grapes, which means it is also found in red wine. However, there is so little of this cancer-fighting substance in red wine that there is no point in drinking wine for this reason.

Milk spoils the effect of polyphenols

Milk can block the effect of polyphenols. Cocoa contained in milk chocolate and tea with milk are much less effective for the human body. This is due to the casein, also called cheese dust, which is in milk. Casein is rich in the amino acid proline, which counteracts the effect of polyphenols. This amino acid is also found in saliva, but not enough to hinder its nutritional effect.

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