Festive Food Fad?

 

There's currently great enthusiasm amongst 'foodies' for polyphenols. These 'natural phytonutrients' are found in high concentrations in some strongly-coloured fruits and vegetables. Likely sources include beetroot, blackberries, black olives, intensely red tomatoes and dark, leafy greens like spinach. It's claimed polyphenols protect their plant producers from insects pests and UV light. Some folk claim that these protective effects may, by a currently unspecified mechanism, be transferred to human grazers. Its said dietary polyphenols slow the aging process, help tackle Alzheimer's disease, improve skin condition, lower blood pressure, benefit heart function and even reduce waist size  (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jan/04/polyphenols-the-natural-chemicals-that-could-give-you-a-small-waist-healthy-heart-and-low-blood-pressure). Polyphenols sound like a panacea. It's, of course, completely appropriate to encourage folk to include more fresh fruit and vegetables in their diets. The idea that these 'clever chemicals' are produced for human benefit appears, however, somewhat fanciful. It's difficult to establish the medical benefits of single dietary substances. 'Natural' also doesn't always mean safe. Toxins are also 'natural'. Some plants like, Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) and Deadly nightshade (Atropa bella-donna) even seem to signal the toxicity of their berries with intense colours. In this case, they appear to be discouraging animals from eating them.