If you regularly enjoy foods like berries, tea, coffee, nuts, whole grains, or olive oil, you may be doing your heart a big favor.
A new study from King’s College London shows that people who often eat these polyphenol-rich foods may have a lower risk of heart disease as they get older.
Polyphenols are natural compounds found in plants. They’re known for their health benefits, including supporting brain health, digestion, and now, heart health. Foods high in polyphenols include many items you might already eat or drink, such as fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, cocoa, and extra virgin olive oil.
This study followed more than 3,100 adults in the UK over an 11-year period. All the participants were part of the TwinsUK cohort, one of the largest ongoing health studies of its kind. The researchers looked at their diets, blood samples, and health over time.
They found that people who ate more polyphenol-rich foods had healthier blood pressure and cholesterol levels. These people also had lower scores on a tool that estimates the risk of heart disease. In particular, they had higher levels of HDL cholesterol, often called the “good” cholesterol, which helps remove harmful fats from the blood.
The scientists didn’t just rely on food surveys. They also checked for special substances in the urine—called metabolites—that appear when the body processes polyphenols. People with more of these polyphenol-related metabolites had lower heart risk scores. This shows a strong link between how the body handles polyphenols and heart health.
To better understand how these foods work together, the researchers created a new scoring tool called the Polyphenol Dietary Score (PPS). This score looked at how often people ate 20 common foods in the UK known to be high in polyphenols, like tea, berries, coffee, nuts, and olive oil.
The PPS was more useful in predicting heart health than simply measuring total polyphenol intake. That’s likely because it reflects the whole diet and overall eating habits, not just one nutrient or food group. It supports the idea that how we eat as a whole is more important than just focusing on one healthy food.
Professor Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, a nutrition expert at King’s College London, said the research shows how powerful long-term healthy eating can be. “Even small, sustained changes—like drinking tea or adding berries and nuts to your meals—can help protect your heart as you age,” she explained.
Dr. Yong Li, the study’s first author, agreed. He said this kind of eating pattern is not only effective, but also practical. “These are everyday foods that are easy to include in your diet,” he said.
The study also found that while heart risk tends to rise as people get older, those with high polyphenol intake saw a slower increase in risk over the years. The researchers hope that future studies and diet-based health programs can build on this finding and help even more people stay healthy.
In conclusion, this study provides strong evidence that eating a variety of polyphenol-rich foods regularly—like fruits, tea, nuts, and whole grains—can make a meaningful difference in heart health over time. It’s a simple, natural step toward a longer and healthier life.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about the power of beetroot juice, and the risks of mixing medications with dietary supplements.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to boost iron intake: natural solutions for anemia, and results showing vitamin K may lower your heart disease risk by a third.
The study is published in BMC Medicine.
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