Polyphenols and Intestinal Health

Abstract Altering the gut microbiome with prebiotics can mitigate dysbiosis and improve intestinal and systemic health. Plants are rich in three main classes of polyphenols with prebiotic properties: (1) phenolics acids, (2) flavonoids, and (3) other phenolics. All of these are abundant in fruits, vegetables, spices, and herbs and have both antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties. Because dietary polyphenols are poorly absorbed in the small intestine, they persist in the colon to be metabolized into aromatic metabolites that are absorbed into the portal blood and sent to the liver or excreted in the feces. Hepatic polyphenol metabolites enter the (1) bloodstream for uptake by target tissues, (2) bladder for urinary excretion, or (3) bile acid pool for remixing with intestinal digesta. In the colon, polyphenols alter the populations of gut microbes and the production of microbial metabolites and host-derived intestinal metabolites and peptide hormones that influence intestinal integrity and systemic metabolism.