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Dietary intake of 20 polyphenol subclasses in a cohort of UK women

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Abstract

Background

Establishing and linking the proposed health benefits of dietary polyphenols to their consumption requires measurement of polyphenol intake in appropriate samples and an understanding of factors that influence their intake in the general population.

Methods

This study examined polyphenol intake estimated from 3- and 7-day food diaries in a sample of 246 UK women aged 18–50 years. Estimation of the intake of 20 polyphenol subclasses commonly present in foods consumed by the sample studied was done using Phenol-Explorer® and USDA polyphenol databases. Women were participants in the Leeds Women’s Wellbeing Study (LWW) (n = 143), a dietary intervention study aimed at overweight women (mean age 37.2 ± 9.4 years; mean BMI 30.8 ± 3.1 kg/m2), and the Diet and Health Study (DH) (n = 103) which aimed to examine the relationship between polyphenol intake and cognitive function (mean age 25.0 ± 9.0 years; mean BMI 24.5 ± 4.6 kg/m2).

Results

The estimated intake of polyphenol subclasses was significantly different between the two samples (p < 0.01) with consumption of 1292 ± 844 and 808 ± 680 mg/day for the LWW and DH groups, respectively. Flavanols and hydroxycinnamic acids were the most important contributors to the polyphenols consumed by both groups, owing to tea and coffee consumption. Other major polyphenol food sources included fruits, vegetables and processed foods.

Conclusion

Older women consumed more polyphenol-containing foods and beverages, which was due to the higher coffee and tea consumption amongst the LWW participants.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the women who participated in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, School of Food Science and Nutrition, Woodhouse Lane, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9JT, UK

    Hanis Mastura Yahya, Andrea Day & Gary Williamson

  2. Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Healthcare Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Hanis Mastura Yahya

  3. Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9JT, UK

    Clare Lawton, Kyriaki Myrissa, Fiona Croden & Louise Dye

Authors
  1. Hanis Mastura Yahya
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  2. Andrea Day
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  3. Clare Lawton
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  4. Kyriaki Myrissa
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  5. Fiona Croden
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  6. Louise Dye
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  7. Gary Williamson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gary Williamson.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Financial support

This work was supported by funding from the Ministry of Education Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The Leeds Women’s Wellbeing Study was funded by Kellogg’s Sales and Marketing UK.

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Yahya, H.M., Day, A., Lawton, C. et al. Dietary intake of 20 polyphenol subclasses in a cohort of UK women. Eur J Nutr 55, 1839–1847 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-1001-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-1001-3

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