Fine-scale dietary polyphenol intake is associated with systemic and gastrointestinal inflammation in healthy adults

Authors: WILSON, STEPHANIE - Texas A&M Agrilife; OLIVER, ANDREW - Orise Fellow; Larke, Jules; NAVEJA, JOSE - University Of Mainz; Alkan, Zeynep; AWIKA, JOSEPH - Texas A&M Agrilife; Stephensen, Charles; Lemay, Danielle

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2024
Publication Date: 8/18/2024
Citation: Wilson, S.M., Oliver, A., Larke, J.A., Naveja, J.J., Alkan, Z., Awika, J.M., Stephensen, C.B., Lemay, D.G. 2024. Fine-scale dietary polyphenol intake is associated with systemic and gastrointestinal inflammation in healthy adults. Journal of Nutrition. 154(11):3286-3297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.08.010.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.08.010

Interpretive Summary: Polyphenols are food compounds with health promoting properties. However, it is unclear how polyphenols impact gut inflammation in healthy people. Thus, we used the food composition database FooDB to estimate how many polyphenols healthy adults eat and assessed how polyphenol intake relates to measures of systemic and gut inflammation. On average, people consumed 914 mg of polyphenols for every 1000 calories per day. We found that polyphenol intake was negatively associated with gut health and that certain polyphenol groups positively associated with systemic inflammation. In this, a potential benefit of olive products on gut health emerged. Our study offers valuable insights into how polyphenols may impact gut health and highlights possible dietary strategies to promote health.

Technical Abstract: Background: Polyphenols are dietary bioactive compounds, many which have anti-inflammatory properties. FooDB is a comprehensive food composition database but has yet to be used for estimation of polyphenol intake and association with health outcomes. Objective: We utilized FooDB to estimate dietary polyphenol intake and examined its relationship with systemic and gastrointestinal inflammation markers in healthy US adults. Methods: Healthy adults (n = 358) completed the USDA Nutritional Phenotyping Study, an observational, cross-sectional study balanced for age, sex, and body mass index. Dietary intake, assessed via multiple 24-hour recalls, was ingredientized and mapped to FooDB. Dietary polyphenol intake (total, class, individual) was estimated and examined for its relationship to gastrointestinal and systemic inflammation markers. Results: Mean total polyphenol intake was approximately 914 mg/1000 kcal per day with flavonoids as the greatest class contributor (mean, 495 mg/1000 kcal per day). Tea, coffee, and fruits were among the largest food contributors to polyphenol intake. Total polyphenol intake negatively associated with the gastrointestinal inflammation marker, calprotectin ('=-0.004, p=0.04). At the class level, polyphenols categorized as prenol lipids ('=-0.94, p<0.01) and phenylpropanoic acids ('=-0.92, p<0.01) negatively associated with lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, representing gastrointestinal permeability. Food sources of these two classes included primarily olive products. We further detected a positive association between C-Reactive protein and polyphenols in the 'cinnamic acids and derivatives' class using hierarchical feature engineering and random forest modeling. Conclusion: This is the first study to leverage the fine-scale composition data of FooDB to quantify dietary polyphenol intake. We found negative associations of polyphenol intake with gastrointestinal health, and a positive association with systemic inflammation, perhaps due to their limited absorption, with a potentially unique role of olive products. Relationships between polyphenol intake and inflammatory outcomes varied with the resolution — total, class, compound — of polyphenol intake, suggesting a nuanced impact of polyphenols on health.