The Benefits of Polyphenols

Polyphenols are micro nutrients that we get through certain plant-based foods.  They're packed with antioxidants and potential health benefits. It's thought that polyphenols can improve or help treat digestion and weight management issues, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, and cardiovascular disease.  

70% of your immune system lives in your digestive tract. Your body's naturally-occurring probiotics feed on polyphenols. A polyphenol-rich diet can help you feel better and digest your food better. That's right, eating foods with polyphenols can help fuel our own probiotics, making our own digestive systems healthier. 

It's best to get polyphenols by eating foods containing them rather than via supplements, which can limit iron absorption. There are polyphenol blends available for purchase, but they need to be soy-free, lactose-free and manufactured to cGMP standards and have the same high polyphenol content you'd receive if you simple at the food itself, rather than purchase a supplement. 

The best way we've found to harness the highest nutrient content of these powerful foods is to eat them raw and also blend them to add to our kombucha and daily blended juices.  This has a wonderful effect on my family's health. It helps to detoxify and reduce the inflammation Jovan experiences in his gut.  As I've said before, all health begins in the gut, and that's one of the main places we started to try to heal Jovan with his digestive health.

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A number of different types of berries are rich in polyphenols.  These include popular and easily accessible berries like:

• highbush blueberries 
• blackberries
• strawberries
• red raspberries
• acai berries
• aronia cherries
• cranberries
• pomegranites

Less commonly found berries (depending on your region) include:

• black chokeberry (found in southeast and northeast United States and in eastern Canada). 
• bilberries

Berries aren't the only fruits with plenty of polyphenols.  According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a large number of fruits contain high numbers of polyphenols.  These include:

• black currants
• plums
• sweet cherries
• apples

Nuts can be very nutritious yet high in caloric value. Full of protein, these nuts are high in polyphenol content as well:

• Hazelnuts
• Walnuts
• Almonds
• Pecans

Polyphenols in food plants are a versatile group of phytochemicals with many potentially beneficial activities in terms of disease prevention. There are many vegetables that contain polyphenols, though they usually have less than fruit.  Here are a few of our favorites:

• Artichokes
• Red onions
• Spinach

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