Food as Medicine: Potential Therapeutic Tendencies of Plant Derived Polyphenolic Compounds

The last two decades have witnessed a major drift in the interests of the scientific community towardsexplaining better means to containing the health risks of the human race. The century old chemotherapiesagainst various disorders have never been a success, albeit not a total failure. Such therapies have a majordrawback of side effects that give rise to unseen disorders that emerge as a new challenge. In this regard, theconcept of foodstuffs as natural medicines is very attractive. Epidemiological studies suggest that the vegeteranianfood habit is associated with reduced risk of cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Consistentwith this hypothesis is the fact that the incidence of these disorders is least in Asian populations where fruits,vegetables and spices are the major elements in the human diet. Recent research has shown that plant-derivedpolyphenolic compounds are promising nutraceuticals for control of various disorders such as cardiovascular,neurological and neoplastic disease. The richness of the polyphenolic contents of green tea and red wine hasmade them popular choice for associated anticancer and cardiovascular health benefits. The present article is abrief review of the promises plant polyphenols, bioactive components of our food, hold for the future.