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When watching the news or seeing articles on social media, it’s obvious that there has been an increase in mental health problems. More and more people are being diagnosed with everything from ADHD to mood disorders to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Polyphenols are a powerhouse when it comes to improving our health, and they have neuroprotective benefits. Let’s learn about the neuroprotective benefits of polyphenols.

What are polyphenols?

Polyphenols are compounds derived from plants. Everything in a plant can provide you with polyphenols: seeds, leaves, flowers, bark, nuts, etc.

Polyphenol molecules are broken down into several main groups (flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans, stilbenes, and others). They are used in different ways throughout the body. Since they’re from natural sources, our bodies know what to do with them and can easily break them down into the molecules we can use.

Polyphenols can act as antioxidants and help reduce oxidative stress. They’ve been found to be anti-inflammatory and can help reduce disease potential and progression.

Polyphenols have been found to be helpful for everything from protecting the heart to reducing cancer risk.

What does neuroprotection mean, and why is it important?

Neuroprotection means protecting the brain and nerve cells. As we age and come into contact with toxins, inflammation throughout the body increases. The more inflammation there is, the more our cells become damaged. This happens all throughout the body, including in the brain and nervous system.

If we continue to have damage to our neurons and brain cells, these areas become crowded with damaged cells, toxins, and inflammation. All of this stresses the brain and nervous system and leads to physical, chemical, and emotional changes.

The physical and chemical changes to the brain can affect minor things like problem-solving abilities or mental fatigue. Other times, the effects can be drastic and lead to severe mental and cognitive decline that’s often seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

Levels of anxiety and depression increase when the brain experiences these negative changes. While feeling anxious from time to time is normal, and mood changes can be normal as well, chronic cases can reduce the quality of life for people in a way that can be dangerous.

Repeated injuries to the head, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle can all contribute to the toxic load on the brain and nervous system. This affects all of our processing abilities.

The gut microbiome is dubbed the second brain. The gut processes everything we eat and helps distribute nutrients and byproducts of the digested foods to support our health. This process might seem basic and like it doesn’t contribute much in the grand scheme of things. However, gut health dictates the health of the rest of our body, brains included.

There are specific pathways that the molecules from our food and gut microbes use to affect other parts of the body. When it comes to the brain, it’s called the gut-brain axis. These molecules can often cross the blood-brain barrier and manipulate brain health positively or negatively.

Neuroprotective Benefits of Polyphenols

Polyphenols work really well within our bodies because they are naturally occurring molecules. Our body cells recognize them and are often able to use them. While some polyphenols aren’t as easily accessible to our body or bioavailable to our cells, many polyphenols are quite easy to unlock and use.

Some foods require cooking for this potential to be unlocked, while others just need to make it to our gut microbiome to be fermented and released. Either way, the molecules can be extracted from foods and used to our benefit.

Polyphenols help to protect neurons from damage. This helps maintain their integrity, providing strong electrical connections between the brain and the rest of the body.

Since polyphenols reduce inflammation, this is beneficial everywhere in the body. Reducing neuroinflammation allows the brain to think and process more efficiently, which improves the ability to learn new things, remember more, and maintain mental clarity and cognitive abilities.

A reduction in inflammation also helps to prevent disease onset and progression. While the verdict is still out on reversing neurodegeneration, there is no doubt that polyphenols help preserve brain health.

Polyphenols can cross the blood-brain barrier, allowing them a direct effect on the brain. This is important because many things cannot cross this barrier, and it limits the effectiveness of treatments. Polyphenols are not restricted in this way, and this gives them the upper hand when trying to improve brain health.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress are major factors in cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. Polyphenols and antioxidants are the best way to remedy oxidative stress by removing ROS.

Within the gut, polyphenols help promote a healthy balance of microbes. These microbes work with polyphenols to give off neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin to improve and balance moods. The gut modulation helps reduce inflammation and calms the immune system response so there isn’t as much for the nervous system to respond to.

All of these benefits have been shown to help with many conditions, including:

Dementia
Alzheimer’s
Parkinsons
Depression
Anxiety
Mood disorders
ALS
MS
Strokes

Best Sources of Polyphenols for Neuroprotection

Introducing more plant-based foods to your diet means more polyphenols. Mimicking the Mediterranean diet is the best way to get more polyphenols. Try to include more:

Fruits
Vegetables
Seeds
Nuts
Roots
Healthy fat sources (avocados, olive oil, etc)
Tea
Wine

Not all plant-based foods are the same. Check out this article to learn more about plant-based meats and other foods that may not be better than the original.

There is a specific diet that has been showing promising results for Alzheimer’s patients called the MIND Diet. This diet contains a ton of great polyphenol sources and helps to limit sugars and other foods that contribute to inflammation.

You may have noticed that many of the foods on this list are also high in fiber. While this is great for the majority of people, if you have sensitivities to FODMAPs, this might be an issue for you.

Atrantil is a great source of polyphenols that not only reduce inflammation but can improve the health of your gut. Starting with Atrantil may be the key to being able to eat more of these foods that used to cause you cramping, bloating, and irregular bowel movements.

If you’re interested in learning more about these topics, check out some of our other articles on our blog. Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with the latest research and to learn about savings on Atrantil!

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