Polyphenol-Rich Foods as a Healthy and Sustainable Strategy for Healthy Aging
Dr. de Pascual-Teresa will highlight the role of polyphenols in promoting longevity and overall well-being. She will discuss their potential benefits in mitigating age-related diseases while emphasizing the sustainability of incorporating polyphenol-rich foods into daily diets.
Summary
The demographic change that is causing a gradual aging of the population is constant and, desirably, unstoppable. However, it comes with a series of inconveniences, that affect the incidence of a number of pathologies and affect the quality of life of an increasingly large segment of the population. In this context, mental health problems and dementia are becoming an epidemic in this first half of the century. It is now a days assumed that lifestyle habits play a fundamental role in promoting health and preventing this neurological and metal pathologies, especially regular physical exercise and the consumption of a balanced diet rich in bioactive compounds. In this context we have conducted a three arms parallel study with red fruit anthocyanins and cocoa flavanols to evaluate the effect of these group of polyphenols on cognitive function and mental health by means of neuropsychological evaluation and targeted and untargeted metabolomics.
About Dr. de Pascual-Teresa
Sonia de Pascual-Teresa is Research Scientist at the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Nutrition belonging to Spanish CSIC. She holds a PhD in Food Science and Nutrition and she has worked in the area of dietary polyphenols for more than 30 years. First from an analytical point of view and later focusing on their biological activity in human. In recent years she has focused on demonstrating that dietary nutrients and bioactive compounds are capable of preventing the neurocognitive and cardiometabolic deterioration associated with aging.
