Comparison of Various Databases for Estimation of Dietary Polyphenol Intake in the Population of Polish Adults

Abstract

The primary aim of the study was to estimate the consumption of polyphenols in a population of 6661 subjects aged between 20 and 74 years representing a cross-section of the Polish society, and the second objective was to compare the intakes of flavonoids calculated on the basis of the two commonly used databases. Daily food consumption data were collected in 2003–2005 using a single 24-hour dietary recall. Intake of total polyphenols was estimated using an online Phenol-Explorer database, and flavonoid intake was determined using following data sources: the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) database combined of flavonoid and isoflavone databases, and the Phenol-Explorer database. Total polyphenol intake, which was calculated with the Phenol-Explorer database, was 989 mg/day with the major contributions of phenolic acids 556 mg/day and flavonoids 403.5 mg/day. The flavonoid intake calculated on the basis of the USDA databases was 525 mg/day. This study found that tea is the primary source of polyphenols and flavonoids for the studied population, including mainly flavanols, while coffee is the most important contributor of phenolic acids, mostly hydroxycinnamic acids. Our study also demonstrated that flavonoid intakes estimated according to various databases may substantially differ. Further work should be undertaken to expand polyphenol databases to better reflect their food contents.

An Overview of Global Flavonoid Intake and its Food Sources

“…Eastern European countries, such as Poland, also have a high intake of total flavonoids (∼600mg/day), related to their high tea consumption [32,40]. Southern regions of France are considered as a MED region, while northern regions as a non-MED region; therefore, France has an intermediate intake of total flavonoids, with the main food sources being fruit, tea, and red wine (a combination of food sources from MED and non-MED countries) [33]. In Scandinavian countries with a low consumption of tea, such as Finland, the intake of total flavonoids (200-250mg/day) is lower than MED countries, since the consumption of fruit is lower as well [31].…”

“…However, men have a higher flavonoid intake in MED countries [21] and France [33] as men tend to drink more wine, particularly red wine. In contrast, the opposite was found in non-MED countries because women tend to consume more tea than men [21].…”

“…Young adults are more likely to consume less total flavonoids than older adults [21][22][23]33]. The age range with the highest intake of total flavonoids is between 55 and 70 years, probably because they consume a more traditional dietary pattern and therefore more fruit, vegetables, red wine, and tea (depending on the region).…”

“…These plant-based foods are characteristic of healthy and traditional diets, and therefore, subjects with high adherence to healthy dietary and lifestyle habits are more likely to have a higher intake of total flavonoids. For example, individuals with a normal weight (BMI < 25), a high education level, and a high socioeconomic status and who are physically active and nonsmokers (never and former smokers) tend to have a higher total flavonoid intake [22,23,26,33].…”

“…These large differences among populations are due to different intakes of the main food sources (i.e., tea and fruit). Depending on the intake of tea (a beverage rich in flavan-3-ol monomers and derived compounds) and fruit (foods rich in proanthocyanidins) a rank of countries/ regions can be proposed: (i) countries with a very high consumption of tea (such as Australia, UK, and Poland), which have a mean intake between 450 and 600mg/day [28,29,33,43,44]; (ii) countries with a moderate consumption of tea or a very high consumption of fruit (such as MED countries, Germany, and the US), which have a mean intake of 250-400mg/day [17,35,43,45]; (iii) countries with a low consumption of tea and low-moderate consumption of fruit (such as Scandinavian countries, South Korea, and Latin-American countries), with a mean intake ranging from 50 to 150mg/day [23,25,31,37]. In Latin-American countries, an underestimation of the total flavanol intake is probable, since there is little food composition data available on tropical foods, especially on fruit [13][14][15][16].…”