In fact, these polyphenols are found in almost all plants and are the ingredients of pigments and bitterness.

There are as many as 500 types of polyphenols, the most common being catechins in green tea, isoflavones in soybeans, and anthocyanins in blueberries.

Other polyphenols include cocoa polyphenols and curcumin contained in turmeric.

These polyphenols have an antioxidant effect.

However, when taking polyphenols for their antioxidant effects, there are some things you should be aware of.

Polyphenols have been a big hit in Japan for a while.

Among them, there is a polyphenol called resveratrol.

There was a time when supplements containing a lot of resveratrol were very popular because of its health benefits.

When I started my research on oxidative stress at the Antioxidant Research Institute and did not know much about antioxidants, I used this resveratrol to measure oxidative stress in a mouse radiation model.

Surprisingly, the results showed that the oxidative stress jumped up.

Curious, I showed the results to Dr. Miria Richetti, head of the oxidative stress team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

She said, “Oh, you’re right about this!”

I questioned  “No, it actually lowers oxidative stress, doesn’t it?”

“You don’t know?”, she told me, “When organisms consume large amounts of single polyphenols, they don’t get any effect, but rather their oxidative stress jumps up.”

On the contrary, if only a small amount of many kinds of polyphenols are given, oxidative stress will go down.

I was told that in a test tube, the more polyphenols you put in, the more data you get, as if oxidative stress goes down, but that is not the case for living things, namely us humans.

From this background, I think the best way to consume polyphenols for antioxidant purposes is not to take supplements, but to drink moderate amounts of wine.

I hope you will keep this in mind when you take polyphenols for antioxidant purposes.