Estimation of dietary intake and patterns of polyphenol consumption in Polish adult population

Polyphenols play an important role in the prevention of degenerative diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases and cancers. The purpose was to estimate dietary polyphenol intake in Polish adults, using own database of food polyphenols, and to establish main dietary sources of polyphenols.

Polish men and women (6661) aged 20-74 years were randomly selected from the Polish National Multicenter Health Survey (WOBASZ). Subjects` daily food consumption was estimated by the 24-hour recall method and was continued for 3 years. It was determined on this basis, that 96 plant foods and plant food products were consumed. The own dietary database of polyphenol contents in food was used to calculate polyphenol intakes in the subjects. The daily total polyphenol intakes were calculated for both genders in individual age categories: 20-40 years, 41-60 years and 61-74 years.

The average polyphenol consumption for the men was 1172 mg/day, and for the women it made 1031 mg/day. Plant food categories such as beverages, vegetables, fruits and cereals were found to be significant sources of polyphenols, of which tea, coffee, potatoes, apples and white bread were the main contributors.

The amount of polyphenol consumption in Polish adult population is similar to the polyphenol intake in other countries populations, accounting roughly for 1g of polyphenols for both genders and different age groups. Patterns of polyphenol consumption, however, vary for genders and age groups. Polyphenols are characterized by a spectrum of antioxidant capabilities, therefore future studies should focus on dietary intakes of individual polyphenols.