Tea- a major source of flavonoid antioxidants in U.S. Diet, says study

17/05/05 At the American Dietetic Association's (ADA) annual Nutrition News Forecast meeting, Lipton Tea presented new findings reported by a research team from Michigan State University claiming that tea is the major source of flavonoid antioxidants in the U.S. diet, supplying 55 percent of the estimated 134 mg/day in the U.S. diet. Clinical studies have shown that tea flavonoids may promote good heart health by improving endothelial function and by reducing blood cholesterol levels.

Until the MSU study was reported, flavonoid intake in a free-living population has not been estimated adequately or consistently. The study aimed to estimate flavonoid intake of the U.S. population and of specific subgroups as well as to identify the major dietary food sources of flavonoids. The researchers matched the recently released flavonoid contents of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Flavonoid Databases with the dietary intake data from the most recent consumption figures representative of the total U.S. population from the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey (NHANES) of 1999-2002.

The researchers estimated the sum of 24 flavonoid compounds within the U.S. population diet and found the major flavonoids in order of amount were flavanols, flavonol, flavanones, flavones, anthocyanidins and isoflavones. Teas, which are rich in flavanols were identified as the most significant source of flavonoids in the U.S. diet, contributing 74 mg of daily flavonoid intake. Other major food groups contributing to flavonoid intake include fruits; vegetables; and the bread, cereals, rice and pasta group.

Nutrition News Forecast is an annual event sponsored by ADA that brings together ADA media spokespeople with nationally recognized science researchers, journal editors, corporations, government and nonprofit agencies to address critical food and nutrition issues and trends that will shape news coverage in the next year.