Many different food types – from the school dinner favorite西兰花to traditional Chinese枸杞– have been termed ‘超级食品’ in recent years, due to their reported beneficial effects on longevity and disease prevention. The health gains of these foods are largely attributed to theirantioxidantcontent, but evidence behind the benefits of consuming these foods is limited, and relatively little is known about the individual nutrients conferring disease protection.

To further unravel the protective effects of antioxidant consumption,new research出版于BMC医学as part of ourMetabolism, Diet and Diseasearticle collection has investigated the impact ofpolyphenols包含ph值,一种抗氧化剂enolic compounds, on overall mortality risk.

在重新分析PervenciónConDietaMediterránea（predimed） 审判，Anna Tresserra-Rimbau和colleagues showed that in people with elevated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, those reporting a高多酚摄入量降低了死亡率风险。

The authors broke down the analysis by polyphenol class, demonstrating thatStilbenoids和lignansare most strongly associated with this protective effect on mortality. Stilbenoids are found in grape skins and concentrated in red wine, whereas flax seed, sesame seed, cruciferous vegetables and cereals contain high levels of lignans.

These findings add to mounting evidence for the对健康的益处多酚消耗，并提出尤其是含有含有男性类的食物，尤其是可以与改善寿命有关。

An important source of dietary polyphenols is olive oil, and in arelated analysisof the PREDIMED trial, Marta Guasch-Ferré and colleagues investigated whether increasing olive oil consumption, as part of advice to follow a Mediterranean diet in those at high cardiovascular risk, has an effect on longevity. The authors demonstrated that increased olive oil consumption is associated with decreased incidence of CVD and overall mortality.

The association was particularly strong for extra-virgin olive oil, with a 10g/天增加与CVD降低10％的橄榄油外部橄榄油的增加。这些结果提供了证据证明橄榄油消费量的健康益处，作者得出的结论是：

“Our findings underscore olive oil consumption as one of the key components of the Mediterranean diet for cardiovascular disease prevention.”

The Mediterranean diet has been linked to a number of health benefits, as outlined in our previousblog. While the recent PREDIMED studies provide important information on which individual components of the Mediterranean diet may confer its beneficial effects, there have been concerns that too much focus on individual foods may encourage unhealthy eating overall.艾莉森·霍恩比，营养师和发言人British Dietetic Association，注意：

“If people mistakenly believe they can ‘undo’ the damage caused by unhealthy foods by eating a superfood, they may continue making routine choices that are unhealthy and increase their risk of long-term illness”

Hornby recommends that emphasis should be placed on eating a balanced diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, in order to decrease the risk of chronic disease and early mortality.

We hope that the results of the two PREDIMED studies will inform public health policy on eating a healthy and balanced diet, and look forward to further research investigating the long-term benefits of consuming polyphenol-rich foods.

In recognition of our second annual conference (代谢，饮食和疾病2014：癌症和代谢) our Metabolism, Diet and Disease article collection, published in collaboration with our sister journalBMC Biology, remains open for submissions.