A new study from King’s College London suggests that regularly eating foods rich in polyphenols—like tea, coffee, berries, cocoa, nuts, whole grains, and olive oil—may help keep your heart healthier as you age.
Polyphenols are natural compounds found in many plant-based foods. They are known to support the heart, brain, and digestive system. Now, this long-term research shows they may also help lower your risk of heart disease.
The study was published in BMC Medicine and followed over 3,100 adults from the UK for more than 10 years. It found that people who ate more polyphenol-rich foods had better cholesterol and blood pressure levels. These healthier levels contributed to a lower predicted risk of cardiovascular disease.
The researchers also looked at urine samples to find signs of how the body processed polyphenols. People with higher levels of these metabolites—especially those from flavonoids and phenolic acids—were more likely to have higher HDL cholesterol, which is the “good” type of cholesterol. They also had lower scores on tests that predict heart disease risk.
To measure how well people followed a polyphenol-rich diet, the scientists created a new tool called the Polyphenol Dietary Score (PPS). This score was based on how often participants ate 20 common polyphenol-rich foods found in the UK, including tea, coffee, olive oil, berries, nuts, and whole grains.
The PPS was a better predictor of heart health than simply measuring total polyphenol intake. The researchers believe this is because the score looks at overall eating habits, rather than just tracking single ingredients.
This supports the idea that a healthy diet works best when people eat a variety of plant-based foods regularly, not just focus on one or two items.
Professor Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, one of the senior researchers, explained that sticking to a diet rich in polyphenols can slow down how fast your risk for heart disease increases as you get older. Even small, consistent changes in your diet—like adding more berries to breakfast or switching to whole grains—can make a difference over time.
Dr. Yong Li, the first author of the study, added that the beauty of this approach is how practical it is. Many polyphenol-rich foods are common and affordable, making it easy for most people to include them in their daily meals.
The researchers pointed out that while it’s normal for heart disease risk to increase with age, those who ate more polyphenol-rich foods experienced a much slower rise in risk. This means that your food choices now could have a big impact on your heart health in the future.
They also suggested that more studies should be done to test how polyphenol-rich diets might directly lower heart disease risk in different groups of people. But for now, this research adds strong evidence that everyday foods like tea, berries, and nuts can play an important role in keeping your heart healthy.
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