If you enjoy sports or exercise, nourish your body to support maximum progress. Herbs, spices, grains, legumes, nuts, fruit, vegetables are rich in chemical compounds: polyphenols. Polyphenols are often at the heart of many so-called superfoods and, for the sports person, support the functioning of blood vessels, energy production (mitochondrial function), fat oxidation and reduce inflammation
As ever, talk to your doctor, or medical practitioner most familiar with your medical history before implementing any changes in diet, exercise or lifestyle; especially if you are under treatment. Please scroll to bottom of page to see a list of related studies.
Polyphenols have a role to play in performance and recovery, this includes improvements in speed, power output and distance covered.
Coffee. The best known performance aid is polyphenol caffeine, most commonly consumed in coffee. Coffee also contains caffeic, chlorogenic, p-coumaric and ferulic acids. There is a good body of evidence to coffee supports overall health outcomes.
Turmeric is best known for its polyphenol curcumin, reducing muscle soreness and improving recovery.
The following easily available, polyphenol rich foods have also been shown to be of value for performance and recovery:
Mixed berries, containing flavanols, flavonols, anthocyanins and glycosides. Blackcurrants, strawberries, blueberries etc. Frozen berries are great, no wastage.
Beetroot. Ruby red beetroot is best known for its high nitrate levels, shown to boost blood flow to muscles during exercise. It also as a high polyphenol content.
Cacao, dark chocolate, containing flavonols. Enjoy bitter dark chocolate or a recovery cacao beverage. Also good for brain health.
Green tea, containing epigallocatechin gallate. Matcha or organic green tea is best.
Garlic, containing allicin, β-resorcylic acid, pyrogallol, gallic acid, rutin, protocatechuic acid, quercetin. More on its health and longevity benefits here.
Ginger is best known for reducing muscle soreness. Its polyphenolsi nclude: gingerol, paradol, and shogaol. Want a tasty and easy to prepare post work out meal, protein rich and with ginger? Learn more here.
A high polyphenol value win... add common culinary herbs and spices to your food.
Enjoy polyphenol rich foods as part of a healthy eating pattern to support your training and activities.
To get the benefits of polyphenols, we enjoy using a whole food approach. What does this mean? At a minimum, enjoying fruit, nuts and seeds on a daily basis. Consuming herbs and spices. Prioritising as wide variety of foods as possible, including vegetables, whole grains and legumes. A polyphenol rich diet supports health across multiple areas, so don't overthink what to eat.
Polyphenols are not a magic bullet. Benefits come from daily eating, daily living - over the course of time. Some may prefer a Western, Mediterranean diet; others a similarly plant forward Asian diet. To note, the DASH diet was specifically created (in the West) to lower to lower hypertension. A similar diet, the China Heart Healthy diet has been used successfully in Asia.
Be wary of using supplements where the evidence, safety, quality of manufacture or formulation is not as strong as the marketing behind them. High doses of polyphenol rich plant extracts, say from green tea or curcumin can negatively affect health. For sports people, competitors especially be aware of potential or contamination by banned substances. As ever, please talk to your doctor or medical practitioner most familiar with your medical history before implementing any changes in diet, exercise or lifestyle, especially if you are under treatment.
A focus on diet and healthy eating practices, real food on the plate, provides the benefits of all the macro and micronutrients that support the best health, exercise and sporting outcomes. And taste on the plate.
Stay Healthy,
Alastair
Proper hydration, especially in hot temperatures or the tropics, is vital for best performance. Enjoy our collection of hydration articles.
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Related Studies
General
Cao G, Zuo J, Wu B, Wu Y. Polyphenol supplementation boosts aerobic endurance in athletes: systematic review. Front Physiol. 2024 Apr 8;15:1369174. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1369174. PMID: 38651044; PMCID: PMC11033476.
Kimble R, Jones K, Howatson G. The effect of dietary anthocyanins on biochemical, physiological, and subjective exercise recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2023;63(9):1262-1276. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1963208. Epub 2021 Aug 17. PMID: 34402657.
Sánchez Díaz M, Martín-Castellanos A, Fernández-Elías VE, López Torres O, Lorenzo Calvo J. Effects of Polyphenol Consumption on Recovery in Team Sport Athletes of Both Sexes: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2022 Oct 1;14(19):4085. doi: 10.3390/nu14194085. PMID: 36235737; PMCID: PMC9573146.
d'Unienville NMA, Blake HT, Coates AM, Hill AM, Nelson MJ, Buckley JD. Effect of food sources of nitrate, polyphenols, L-arginine and L-citrulline on endurance exercise performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2021 Dec 29;18(1):76. doi: 10.1186/s12970-021-00472-y. PMID: 34965876; PMCID: PMC8715640.
Carey CC, Lucey A, Doyle L. Flavonoid Containing Polyphenol Consumption and Recovery from Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2021 Jun;51(6):1293-1316. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01440-x. Epub 2021 Mar 9. PMID: 33687663.
Rickards L, Lynn A, Harrop D, Barker ME, Russell M, Ranchordas MK. Effect of Polyphenol-Rich Foods, Juices, and Concentrates on Recovery from Exercise Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2021 Aug 27;13(9):2988. doi: 10.3390/nu13092988. PMID: 34578866; PMCID: PMC8465563.
Somerville V, Bringans C, Braakhuis A. Polyphenols and Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2017 Aug;47(8):1589-1599. doi: 10.1007/s40279-017-0675-5. Erratum in: Sports Med. 2017 Aug;47(8):1601. doi: 10.1007/s40279-017-0702-6. PMID: 28097488.
Beetroot
Rojano-Ortega D, Peña Amaro J, Berral-Aguilar AJ, Berral-de la Rosa FJ. Effects of Beetroot Supplementation on Recovery After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review. Sports Health. 2022 Jul-Aug;14(4):556-565. doi: 10.1177/19417381211036412. Epub 2021 Aug 16. PMID: 34399653; PMCID: PMC9214898.
Cacao / Chocolate
Massaro M, Scoditti E, Carluccio MA, Kaltsatou A, Cicchella A. Effect of Cocoa Products and Its Polyphenolic Constituents on Exercise Performance and Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage and Inflammation: A Review of Clinical Trials. Nutrients. 2019 Jun 28;11(7):1471. doi: 10.3390/nu11071471. PMID: 31261645; PMCID: PMC6683266.
Sellami M, Slimeni O, Pokrywka A, Kuvačić G, D Hayes L, Milic M, Padulo J. Herbal medicine for sports: a review. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018 Mar 15;15:14. doi: 10.1186/s12970-018-0218-y. PMID: 29568244; PMCID: PMC5856322.
Caffeine / Coffee
Southward K, Rutherfurd-Markwick KJ, Ali A. The Effect of Acute Caffeine Ingestion on Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2018 Aug;48(8):1913-1928. doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0939-8. Erratum in: Sports Med. 2018 Oct;48(10):2425-2441. doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0967-4. PMID: 29876876.
Garlic
Tsao JP, Bernard JR, Tu TH, Hsu HC, Chang CC, Liao SF, Cheng IS. Garlic supplementation attenuates cycling exercise-induced oxidative inflammation but fails to improve time trial performance in healthy adults. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2023 Dec;20(1):2206809. doi: 10.1080/15502783.2023.2206809. PMID: 37170623; PMCID: PMC10184592.
Green Tea
Nobari H, Saedmocheshi S, Chung LH, Suzuki K, Maynar-Mariño M, Pérez-Gómez J. An Overview on How Exercise with Green Tea Consumption Can Prevent the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species and Improve Sports Performance. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 25;19(1):218. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010218. PMID: 35010479; PMCID: PMC8750450.
Turmeric / Curcumin
Fernández-Lázaro D, Mielgo-Ayuso J, Seco Calvo J, Córdova Martínez A, Caballero García A, Fernandez-Lazaro CI. Modulation of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage, Inflammation, and Oxidative Markers by Curcumin Supplementation in a Physically Active Population: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2020 Feb 15;12(2):501. doi: 10.3390/nu12020501. PMID: 32075287; PMCID: PMC7071279.
Ginger
Anh NH, Kim SJ, Long NP, Min JE, Yoon YC, Lee EG, Kim M, Kim TJ, Yang YY, Son EY, Yoon SJ, Diem NC, Kim HM, Kwon SW. Ginger on Human Health: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of 109 Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutrients. 2020 Jan 6;12(1):157. doi: 10.3390/nu12010157. PMID: 31935866; PMCID: PMC7019938.
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