Polyphenol Foods Chart: Your Guide to Antioxidant Goodness - Epigenetic Edge

Polyphenols are micronutrients present in plants, accessible via various foods like fruits, veggies, teas, and spices. With over 8,000 variants, these compounds boast antioxidative qualities. Polyphenols help combat cell damage from aging, environmental harm, and poor lifestyle choices.

Common sources of polyphenols include berries, spices, cocoa, nuts, flaxseeds, vegetables, olives, coffee, and tea. A diet rich in polyphenols, providing above 650 milligrams daily, correlates with lower mortality and chronic disease risks.

Key Takeaways:

Polyphenols are micronutrients found in a variety of foods.
Polyphenols have antioxidant properties that help protect cells from damage.
A polyphenol-rich diet is linked to a lower risk of chronic diseases.
Top polyphenol food sources include berries, herbs and spices, cocoa powder, nuts, flaxseeds, vegetables, olives, coffee, and tea.
Incorporating polyphenol-rich foods into your diet can support overall health and well-being.

Top Polyphenol Foods: Boost Your Intake of Antioxidants

Adding polyphenol-rich foods to your diet enriches it with both taste and health benefits. Increasing consumption of these top polyphenol sources enhances antioxidant levels in the body. Thus, promoting overall well-being and addressing various health concerns.

Berries

Berries stand out among fruits as excellent sources of polyphenols. For instance, chokeberries and elderberries contain 1,123 and 870 milligrams per half-cup, respectively. While less exotic, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are formidable sources as well, ensuring a varied and robust antioxidant intake.

Herbs and Spices

Herbs and spices contribute significantly to polyphenol consumption. For example, cloves provide 542 milligrams per ounce, highlighting their potency. Incorporating these flavorful elements into dishes enhances not only taste but also the nutritional value, thus benefiting overall health.

Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder, a popular ingredient in chocolate, is rich in polyphenols. It offers 516 milligrams per tablespoon, making it an essential source of antioxidants. Opt for high-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder to maximize the health benefits of this indulgent ingredient.

Nuts

Nuts offer a crunchy, satiating snack that’s also rich in polyphenols. For instance, chestnuts boast 347 milligrams of polyphenols per ounce. Including a variety of nuts in your diet is a smart way to increase polyphenol intake, while also benefiting from their nutritional value.

Flaxseeds, Vegetables, and Olive Oil

Flaxseeds, along with vegetables like asparagus and spinach, and olive oil, are noteworthy polyphenol sources. These essential pantry items promote a diet rich in antioxidants. Utilizing them in your cooking adds depth of flavor and health value to your meals.

Coffee and Tea

Coffee and tea are more than just beverages; they offer substantial polyphenols. Naturally present in both coffee beans and tea leaves, polyphenols fulfill antioxidant requirements. However, it is important to regulate caffeine intake and opt for unprocessed, unsweetened forms for the greatest health benefits.

Some good references in this article on coffee and nrf2 signaling.

So then – Lets look at the Polyphenol Food Charts!

Polyphenol Foods Charts

FROM: J Pérez-Jiménez, V Neveu, F Vos and A Scalbert 2010 Identification of the 100 richest dietary sources of polyphenols: an application of the Phenol-Explorer database

Polyphenol Foods Chart 1

Polyphenol and antioxidant content in the 100 richest foods (mg per 100 g or mg per 100 ml)

Food	Food group	Polyphenols		Polyphenols AE		Antioxidants
		Content	Rank	Content	Rank	Content	Rank
Cloves	Seasonings	15188	1	15188	1	16047	1
Peppermint, dried	Seasonings	11960	2	7920	2	980	26
Star anise	Seasonings	5460	3	5460	3	1810	16
Cocoa powder	Cocoa products	3448	4	3294	4	1104	24
Mexican oregano, dried	Seasonings	2319	5	2137	5	—	—
Celery seed	Seasonings	2094	6	1007	10	—	—
Black chokeberry	Fruits	1756	7	1432	7	1752	17
Dark chocolate	Cocoa products	1664	8	1618	6	1860	13
Flaxseed meal	Seeds	1528^c	9	1220^c	8	—	—
Black elderberry	Fruits	1359	10	804	13	1950	12
Chestnut	Seeds	1215	11	1215	9	2757	9
Common sage, dried	Seasonings	1207	12	893	12	2920	8
Rosemary, dried	Seasonings	1018	13	522	14	2519	10
Spearmint, dried	Seasonings	956	14	491	18	6575	3
Common thyme, dried	Seasonings	878	15	464	19	1815	15
Lowbush blueberry	Fruits	836	16	496	15	471	35
Blackcurrant	Fruits	758	17	464	20	821	29
Capers	Seasonings	654	18	389	21	3600	6
Black olive	Vegetables	569	19	320	22	117	53
Highbush blueberry	Fruits	560	20	295	23	205	40
Hazelnut	Seeds	495	21	493	16	687	30
Pecan nut	Seeds	493	22	493	17	1816	14
Soy flour	Seeds	466	23	267	27	—	—
Plum	Fruits	377	24	285	24	411	35
Green olive	Vegetables	346	25	233	28	161	47
Sweet basil, dried	Seasonings	322	26	166	34	4317	4
Curry, powder	Seasonings	285	27	285	25	1075	25
Sweet cherry	Fruits	274	28	145	38	144	48
Globe artichoke heads	Vegetables	260	29	154	35	1142	23
Blackberry	Fruits	260	30	180	33	570	31
Roasted soybean	Seeds	246	31	153	36	—	—
Milk chocolate	Cocoa products	236	32	236	27	854	28
Strawberry	Fruits	235	33	205	29	268	36
Red chicory	Vegetables	235	34	131	41	129	51
Red raspberry	Fruits	215	35	107	46	980	27
Coffee, filter	Non-alcoholic beverages	214	36	110	45	267	37
Ginger, dried	Seasonings	202	37	202	30	473	32
Whole grain hard wheat flour	Cereals	201^c	38	201^c	21	186	46
Prune	Fruits	194	39	100	49	1195	21
Almond	Seeds	187	40	185	32	191	45
Black grape	Fruits	169	41	124	42	205	41
Red onion	Vegetables	168	42	99	50	91	60
Green chicory	Vegetables	166	43	117	44	—	—
Common thyme, fresh	Seasonings	163	44	118	43	1173	23
Refined maize flour	Cereals	153	45	153	37	102	59
Soy, tempeh	Seeds	148	46	101	48	—	—
Whole grain rye flour	Cereals	143	47	143	39	72	66
Apple	Fruits	136	48	136	40	205	42
Spinach	Vegetables	119	49	68	55	248	38
Shallot	Vegetables	113	50	67	56	115	54
Lemon verbena, dried	Seasonings	106	51	106	47	—	—
Black tea	Non-alcoholic beverages	102	52	90	52	104	58
Red wine	Alcoholic beverages	101	53	91	51	215	39
Green tea	Non-alcoholic beverages	89	54	82	53	62	67
Soy yogurt	Seeds	84	55	51	60	—	—
Yellow onion	Vegetables	74	56	49	61	75	64
Soy meat	Seeds	73	57	47	63	—	—
Whole grain wheat flour	Cereals	71^c	58	71^c	54	90	61
Pure apple juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	68	59	61	57	34	75
Pure pomegranate juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	66	60	37	64	204	43
Extra-virgin olive oil	Oils	62	61	33	67	55	70
Black bean	Seeds	59	62	36	66	1390	20
Peach	Fruits	59	63	54	59	107	57
Pure blood orange juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	56	64	28	71	72	67
Cumin	Seasonings	55	65	55	58	2038	11
Pure grapefruit juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	53	66	23	76	54	72
White bean	Seeds	51	67	31	69	138	49
Chinese cinnamon	Seasonings	48	68	48	62	—	—
Pure blond orange juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	46	69	20	81	—	—
Broccoli	Vegetables	45	70	21	79	198	44
Redcurrant	Fruits	43	71	23	77	448	36
Soy tofu	Seeds	42	72	25	74	—	—
Pure lemon juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	42	73	20	82	—	—
Whole grain oat flour	Cereals	37^c	74	37^c	65	82	65
Apricot	Fruits	34	75	15	85	133	53
Caraway	Seasonings	33	76	33	68	2913	7
Refined rye flour	Cereals	31^c	77	31^c	70	45	74
Asparagus	Vegetables	29	78	11	90	75	65
Walnut	Seeds	28	79	28	71	1576	19
Potato	Vegetables	28	80	15	86	54	73
Ceylan cinnamon	Seasonings	27	81	27	73	9070	2
Parsley, dried	Seasonings	25	82	25	75	1584	18
Nectarine	Fruits	25	83	20	83	55	71
Curly endive	Vegetables	24	84	15	87	—	—
Marjoram, dried	Seasonings	23	85	22	78	3,846	5
Red lettuce	Vegetables	23	86	14	88	114	58
Chocolate beverage with milk	Non-alcoholic beverages	21	87	21	80	—	—
Quince	Fruits	19	88	12	89	—	—
Endive (Escarole)	Vegetables	18	89	11	91	—	—
Soy milk	Non-alcoholic beverages	18	90	11	92	—	—
Pure pummelo juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	18	91	7.9	97	—	—
Rapeseed oil	Oils	17	92	17	84	18	78
Pear	Fruits	17	93	11	93	108	59
Soybean sprout	Seeds	15	94	10	95	—	—
Green grape	Fruits	15	95	7.6	98	122	55
Carrot	Vegetables	14	96	6.6	100	58	71
Vinegar	Seasonings	13	97	11	94	—	—
Soy cheese	Seeds	12	98	7.6	99	—	—
White wine	Alcoholic beverages	10	99	8.6	96	32	77
Rosé wine	Alcoholic beverages	10	100	7.8	98	82	63

Abbreviation: AE, (polyphenols as) aglycone equivalents.

Polyphenol Foods Chart 2

Food servings providing at least 1 mg polyphenols with their polyphenol and antioxidant contents (mg per serving)

From Perez-Jiminez 2010

Food	Food group	Serving (g)	Polyphenols		Polyphenols AE		Antioxidants
			Content	Rank	Content	Rank	Content	Rank
Black elderberry	Fruits	145	1956	1	1196	2	2808	1
Black chokeberry	Fruits	145	1595	2	1114	1	2523	2
Blackcurrant	Fruits	145	1092	3	689	4	1182	5
Highbush blueberry	Fruits	145	806	4	425	5	321	14
Globe artichoke heads	Vegetables	168	436	5	259	8	1918	3
Coffee, filter	Non-alcoholic beverages	190	408	6	209	13	507	11
Lowbush blueberry	Fruits	145	395	7	714	3	678	8
Sweet cherry	Fruits	145	394	8	209	14	249	20
Strawberry	Fruits	166	390	9	340	6	480	12
Blackberry	Fruits	144	374	10	260	9	821	6
Plum	Fruits	85	320	11	242	11	349	13
Red raspberry	Fruits	144	310	12	154	17	213	22
Flaxseed meal	Seeds	20	306	13	244	10	—	—
Dark chocolate	Cocoa products	17	283	14	275	7	316	15
Chestnut	Seeds	19	230	15	231	12	524	10
Black tea	Non-alcoholic beverages	195	197	16	175	15	204	23
Green tea	Non-alcoholic beverages	195	173	17	164	16	121	31
Pure apple juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	248	168	18	151	18	84	38
Apple	Fruits	110	149	19	147	19	221	21
Whole grain rye bread	Cereals	120	146	20	146	20	—	—
Hazelnut	Seeds	28	138	21	138	21	192	24
Red wine	Alcoholic beverages	125	126	22	117	23	269	19
Soy yogurt	Seeds	125	105	23	53	28	—	—
Cocoa powder	Cocoa products	3	103	24	99	25	33	46
Pure pomegranate juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	150	99	25	50	31	306	16
Soy flour	Seeds	20	93	26	53	29	—	—
Black grape	Fruits	54	91	27	113	24	92	36
Black olive	Vegetables	15	85	28	48	32	17	56
Pure grapefruit juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	150	79	29	39	37	82	39
Pure blood orange juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	154	71	30	31	42	111	33
Milk chocolate	Cocoa products	32	75	31	75	26	273	17
Spinach	Vegetables	59	70	32	40	34	170	26
Pecan nut	Seeds	15	69	33	69	27	272	18
Prune	Fruits	32	62	34	32	40	—	—
Redcurrant	Fruits	144	62	35	119	22	646	9
Soy, tempeh	Seeds	40	59	36	40	35	—	—
Peach	Fruits	99	59	37	52	30	105	34
Soy tofu	Seeds	130	54	38	32	41	—	—
Green olive	Vegetables	15	52	39	35	39	24	51
Black bean	Seeds	35	52	40	14	56	1216	4
Red onion	Vegetables	30	50	41	30	43	31	47
Green grape	Fruits	54	48	42	46	33	66	41
White bean	Seeds	35	44	43	11	60	121	32
Chocolate beverage with milk	Non-alcoholic beverages	187	39	44	39	38	—	—
Roasted soybean	Seeds	15	37	45	40	36	—	—
Potato	Vegetables	128	36	46	23	45	69	40
Shallot	Vegetables	32	36	47	21	47	—	—
Soy milk	Non-alcoholic beverages	187	34	48	20	48	—	—
Red chicory	Vegetables	14	33	49	18	49	18	54
Broccoli	Vegetables	72	33	50	15	53	142	30
Soy meat	Seeds	40	29	51	19	50	—	—
Whole grain rye flour	Cereals	20	29^f	52	29	44	14	59
Pure pummelo juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	154	27	53	12	58	—	—
Nectarine	Fruits	99	25	54	20	48	44	44
Green chicory	Vegetables	14	23	55	16	49	—	—
Pear	Fruits	138	23	56	15	54	149	29
Beer	Alcoholic beverages	574	22	57	22	46	160	27
Yellow onion	Vegetables	30	22	58	15	55	23	52
Apricot	Fruits	65	22	59	10	61	86	37
Asparagus	Vegetables	75	22	60	8.6	64	56	42
Quince	Fruits	100	19	61	12	59	—	—
Almond	Seeds	10	19	62	0.8	88	6.2	64
Whole grain wheat flour	Cereals	20	14	63	14	57	18	55
White wine	Alcoholic beverages	125	13	64	10	62	40	45
Rosé wine	Alcoholic beverages	125	12	65	10	63	10	62
Dark beer	Alcoholic beverages	574	10	66	5.2	67	102	35
Extra virgin olive oil	Oils	16	10	67	4.8	68	8.8	63
Soybean sprout	Seeds	60	9.3	68	6.0	66	—	—
Carrot	Vegetables	54	7.6	69	3.5	69	31	48
Bilberry	Fruits	145	7.4	70	7.4	65	756	7
Pure lemon juice	Non-alcoholic beverages	15	6.3	71	1.8	80	—	—
Red lettuce	Vegetables	24	5.4	72	3.4	70	27	50
Soy cheese	Seeds	40	4.9	73	3.1	72	—	—
Green bean	Vegetables	60	4.8	74	3.4	71	185	25
Curly endive	Vegetables	14	3.4	75	2.0	78	—	—
Cauliflower	Vegetables	38	2.7	76	2.7	73	31	49
Peanut roasted dehulled	Seeds	40	2.6	77	2.6	74	17	57
Rapeseed oil	Oils	16	2.5	78	2.5	75	—	—
Pumpkin	Vegetables	60	2.5	79	2.0	79	52	43
Pasta	Cereals	60	2.5	80	2.5	76	—	—
Banana	Fruits	97	2.5	81	2.5	77	150	28
Endive (escarole)	Vegetables	14	2.5	82	1.5	82	—	—
Tomato	Vegetables	50	2.1	83	1.2	83	22	53
Green lettuce	Vegetables	24	1.9	84	1.1	85	16	58
White onion	Vegetables	30	1.6	85	1.0	87	13	61
Refined oat flour	Cereals	20	1.6	86	1.6	81	—	—
Refined wheat flour	Cereals	20	1.2	87	1.2	84	14	60
Pomegranate	Fruits	100	1.1	88	1.1	86	—	—
Sweet green pepper	Vegetables	20	0.9	89	0.5	89	0.4	65

Abbreviation: AE, (polyphenols as) aglycone equivalents.

The Benefits of Polyphenol-Rich Foods

Many studies have provided evidence that a polyphenol-rich diet is beneficial to one’s health. Van Duyn and Pivonka noted that these compounds contribute to the normal functioning of the heart. They help to manage of blood pressure, and they also decrease the likelihood of diabetes by regulating blood sugar and lowering insulin resistance. Polyphenols also demonstrate anti-cancer effects and aid the immune system by different mechanisms.

Polyphenols are common antioxidants present in a large number of foods and beverages of plant origin. A mean intake of about 1g per day has been reported (Kühnau, 1976; Ovaskainen et al., 2008). All polyphenols are characterised by the presence in their structure of one or several phenolic groups, capable of reducing reactive oxygen species and various organic substrates and minerals. These redox properties explain the considerable interest in their role in the prevention of several major chronic diseases associated with oxidative stress, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, type II diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases or osteoporosis (Scalbert et al., 2005).

Polyphenols show highly diverse structures and over 500 different molecules are known in foods (Neveu et al., 2010; Pérez-Jiménez et al., 2010). This diversity must be taken into account when considering bioavailability, biological properties and health effects, as the latter largely depend on their specific chemical structures (Manach et al., 2005; Loke et al., 2008). The diversity of polyphenols also makes it difficult to estimate the total polyphenol content of foods, an important fact for food and nutrition researchers and the food industry. (Perez-Jiminez 2010)

FAQ

What are polyphenols?

Polyphenols are micronutrients found in plants. They are prevalent in foods like fruits, vegetables, teas, and spices. These compounds have antioxidant effects, mitigating cellular damage from aging, environmental factors, and unhealthy habits.

How can I increase my polyphenol intake?

Having a diet rich in polyphenol foods enhances your intake of these beneficial compounds. As you can see from the Polyphenol Food Charts, good sources include a number of diverse berries, herbs, spices, cocoa, nuts, flaxseeds, vegetables, olives, coffee, and tea. Integrating these foods into your meals and snacks is a practical method.

What are the health benefits of consuming polyphenol-rich foods?

Evidence shows that a diet high in polyphenols positively impacts health. By helping to manage of blood pressure, these compounds support heart health. Polyphenols lessen the likelihood of diabetes by regulating blood sugar and lowering insulin resistance. Additionally, polyphenols have anti-cancer effects and aid the immune system through several mechanisms.

Can polyphenol-rich foods help prevent chronic diseases?

Absolutely! Polyphenol-rich diets can reduce the risk of chronic illnesses. They have been linked to a decrease in mortality and a lower incidence of diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

How much polyphenol should I consume per day?

The ideal daily amount of polyphenols remains unspecified. Yet, exceeding 650 milligrams daily has consistently been shown to correlate with improved health outcomes. Source Linkshttps://web.archive.org/web/20160808155913/http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v64/n3s/full/ejcn2010221a.html