Epidemiological studies suggest that the Mediterranean diet is associated with beneficial health outcomes, which have been commonly attributed to different components of several foods. Polyphenols are considered strong candidates due to their potential action as regulators of gene expression and their combined antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Intervention studies also provide further evidence for the protective effects of these secondary plant metabolites, from which a large number of classes, sharing a common and simple structural motif, have been identified.
To date, there is no robust randomized clinical trial demonstrating these effects in humans and the actual underlying mechanisms are either unknown or inferred from animal and ex vivo experiments. However, the low bioavailability of polyphenols suggest that these are only effective when administered in high, fortunately safe, amounts. We have found consistent effects of polyphenols as antihypertensive probably due to improvement in endothelial function.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24668839
Are really more data necessary or finfings are concentrating into data?
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