Healthy skin and general wellness are our priorities at Juice Beauty, and the key to achieving both is a balanced, nutritional diet. Many factors make food and meals healthy and nutritious, but a great place to start is with polyphenols.
Read along for a breakdown of these micronutrients, their health benefits, and the best polyphenol-rich foods to incorporate into your diet.
What Are Polyphenols?
So, what actually are polyphenols? They are naturally occurring phenols (compounds with attached hydroxyl groups) that come from plants and work to support your cells during exposure to free radicals and oxidative stress.
Polyphenols are types of antioxidants that can work to support your health in several ways.
What Are the Different Types of Polyphenols?
Many foods are filled with nutrients and polyphenols, but did you know there are several different types of polyphenols present?
The following are just a handful of examples of the types of polyphenols that reside in foods:
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Phenolic Acids: One of the more common types of polyphenols, phenolic acids are found in all sorts of fruits, vegetables, spices, and seasonings.
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Flavonoids: Flavonoids are another very common polyphenol, most often found in fruits, veggies, and leaves.
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Polyphenolic Amides: Found often in foods like chili peppers and oats, polyphenolic amides are known for support gut health.
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Lignans: Lignans are a type of polyphenol most commonly found in flaxseeds.
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Stilbenes: Stilbenes are found primarily in plant-based foods like grapes, berries, rhubarb, and peanuts. This polyphenol is well regarded in the scientific and medical world, as it has many health benefits, such as antioxidant properties and helping to support proper insulin sensitivity.
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Ellagic Acid: Mostly found in foods like pomegranates, berries, and walnuts, ellagic acid is another common polyphenol.
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Resveratrol: Finally, resveratrol is a type of polyphenol found in red wine, and is linked to various health benefits.
With so many types of polyphenols, there are numerous potential health benefits to explore. Read on to break down the most common health benefits of polyphenol intake to see why these foods are so important to incorporate into your diet.
What Are the Health Benefits of Polyphenols?
The effects of polyphenols have been scientifically proven to support your health, thanks to their many beneficial properties. Polyphenols are a dietary must, from supporting cardiovascular health to maintaining your immune system and skin health.
Help Support Healthy, Glowing Skin
If you want a glowing, youthful-looking complexion, polyphenols can be a great way to achieve it.
These powerful antioxidants help support skin cell health during exposure to free radicals, which are largely responsible for premature aging. Polyphenols may help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by supporting this process.
Plus, polyphenols have soothing, calming properties, which can help ease irritated skin and reduce redness. They can also enhance skin's resilience and help support proper elasticity.
Incorporating polyphenols into your diet and skincare routine can significantly enhance your skin's health, vitality, and overall appearance.
May Support Heart Health
Heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States.
While you should consult a healthcare professional if you or your family has a history of heart disease or cardiovascular diseases, incorporating polyphenol-rich foods into your diet is an easy way to help improve your heart health.
Polyphenols have soothing properties and are known to help enhance endothelial function, which helps support the inner lining of the heart. Foods rich in polyphenols are also known to help reduce blood pressure and potentially decrease LDL cholesterol, two factors that heavily impact heart health.
Improving your diet is a great way to help prevent potential heart diseases, and polyphenols are a great place to start.
May Help Support Blood Sugar Levels
Polyphenol-rich foods often help slow down the breakdown of carbs, which ultimately helps support healthy blood sugar levels. If you need to manage blood sugar levels, consuming more foods rich in polyphenols can be a great way to stay on top of your wellness.
May Support Brain Function
The antioxidants and soothing properties in polyphenol-rich foods may help support brain function over time.
Researchers are discovering that polyphenols can support graceful aging when it comes to brain function, keeping functions like memory intact. Your brain needs fuel to function well, and a polyphenol-rich diet can provide just that.
May Help Promote Healthy Digestion
Having a healthy digestive system is imperative to your overall well-being. Proper digestion of foods allows your body to absorb all the nutrients and use up energy.
A healthy diet and strong intestinal health are two of the best ways to ensure a well-functioning digestive system, and a polyphenol-rich diet is a great way to achieve that.
Since polyphenol-rich foods are so high in antioxidants and nutrients, they fuel your body and help your gut get rid of toxins while keeping the good bacteria. Thus, polyphenol intake helps improve gut health and, in turn, promotes a healthy digestive system.
Now that we know some of the incredible health benefits of polyphenols, let’s check out a list of the 10 best foods rich in polyphenols and switch up your diet.
What Foods Are Rich in Polyphenols?
Increasing your polyphenol intake does not require an entire diet revamp — instead, check out our list of the best foods with high amounts of polyphenols and start incorporating them into your existing eating habits. The following delicious foods are rich in polyphenols.
1. Coffee
As one of the most popular items on our list, coffee is filled with polyphenols like caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and quercetin. We all know and love (and need) coffee for the energy it provides, thanks to its caffeine content, but the polyphenols within coffee are a great source of antioxidants.
So the next time you sip your morning cup of Joe, you can savor the taste knowing you’re also consuming some healthy polyphenols.
2. Dark Chocolate
Do you have a sweet tooth? Dark chocolate and cocoa powder are a great source of polyphenols like flavonols, resveratrol, and catechins, all of which help promote gut health, specifically helping ensure the gut microbiota keeps all the healthy gut bacteria in place and rids the digestive system of toxins.
Dark chocolate may also aid in weight management, so feel free to enjoy the sweet treat in moderation.
3. Blueberries
Fruits are often rich in polyphenols, and blueberries are no exception. This sweet berry is filled with flavonoids and phenolic acids, which are proven to have soothing properties. A cup of blueberries is a great snack, filled with polyphenols to improve health.
4. Black Tea
Another caffeinated fan favorite, black tea is rich in polyphenols. This delicious beverage is a great way to increase your polyphenol intake. Whether you take it with sugar or just black, a cup of black tea is a great source of polyphenols (as is green tea, if you prefer that taste).
5. Apples
Apples are so much more than just a crunchy, sweet snack. They are filled with polyphenols, specifically flavanols, phenolic acids, flavonols, and more. Every bite rewards your body with nutritious, antioxidant-filled goodness.
Plus, apples can also play a role in skincare — and at Juice Beauty, they’re a crucial ingredient in our Green Apple Brightening line.
Our Green Apple Age Defy Serum features apple and grape juice alongside green tea extract, algae extract, vitamin C, and vitamin E to help create a brighter-looking complexion. In testing, Green Apple® Age Defy Serum performed on average 2.7 times (168%) better at providing antioxidant protection than a leading conventional serum and a top natural serum.
For balanced moisture, reach for our Green Apple Brightening Emulsion Lightweight Moisturizer, a fast-absorbing, lightweight moisturizer with lime caviar and squalane from olives.
With Juice Beauty, every product contains a base of at least 70% organic ingredients, thanks to our Bio70+ technology. This creates an antioxidant-rich environment for our potent active ingredients, working to bring you real, impressive results.
6. Nuts
Nuts are the perfect choice if you’re a snacker and want to munch on something that benefits your overall health. There are endless varieties of nuts to choose from, and each kind is filled with polyphenols. Some nuts have a higher polyphenol content than others.
For instance, chestnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans are very high in polyphenols. More common nuts like almonds, walnuts, or cashews have a lower polyphenol count but are great food sources regardless.
7. Flaxseed
Flaxseed is an amazing source of polyphenols. Mainly consisting of lignans, flaxseed is an excellent choice to incorporate into your diet.
8. Blackberries
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again — berries are one of the best sources of polyphenols. Blackberries are especially rich in polyphenols, particularly ellagic acid, catechin, and anthocyanins.
Though they are a little less common in your average supermarket than blueberries are, blackberries are incredibly rich in antioxidants and nutrients and are a great snack when you can access them.
If you don’t have access to them, other polyphenol-rich berries you can snack on include raspberries, elderberries, chokeberries, blackcurrants, and plums (although those are technically drupes, not berries).
9. Beans
Our list would be incomplete if we didn’t mention the polyphenol-rich family of legumes. Beans (or legumes) are an incredible source of polyphenols. From black beans and garbanzo beans to soybeans, there are plenty of ways to incorporate them into your diet.
10. Grapes
Grapes are another rich source of polyphenols and can be a great way to incorporate more antioxidants into your diet. From salads to yogurt bowls, grapes are an easy addition to a variety of meals or snacks.
At Juice Beauty, our Patent-Pending Supergrape™ uses the rare Sagrantino grape, meticulously cultivated to maximize its bioactive potential. We’ve conducted rigorous research to unlock its impressive antioxidant capacity, and today, thanks to cutting-edge extraction methods and efficacy testing, it’s the hero ingredient in our skincare.
Eat Well, Glow Well
Maintaining a healthy diet is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve general health. However, with so many fad diets and conflicting information, it can take time to find what works best.
At Juice Beauty, wellness is our priority — especially when it comes to your skin. With the right diet and skincare ritual, you can keep your skin happy and glowing.
Sources:
Polyphenols can be found in many fresh foods | UCLA Health
Role of stilbenes against insulin resistance: A review - Shazmeen - 2021 | Food Science & Nutrition