Polyphenols do more than just give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colors—they have the potential to influence your genes. That’s right, the food you eat can literally turn certain genes on or off. But how does this work? It all comes down to AMPK, the master regulator of metabolism.
In this episode of The Wellness Zone podcast, Dr. Barry Sears and Mary Perry explain how polyphenols activate AMPK and why this is crucial for your health. But there’s a catch—polyphenols aren’t easily absorbed by the body. They need to be broken down by your gut microbes before they can work their magic.
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Great video on polyphenols! So easy to understand. Thank you for providing the science in an easy to understand format.
Some health experts in the carnivore community claim plant polyphenols are actually oxidative and are bad for you, your body reacts by raising its glutathione levels combating oxidative stress caused by polyphenols
Polyphenols are metabolized by the microbes in the gut to compounds that are small enough to enter into the blood. Once in the blood the polyphenol metabolites activate the sirtuin enzymes in a cell that then active AMPK to cause the genetic expression of Nrf-2 that in turn causes the synthesis of a wide range of anti-oxidative enzymes that quench free radicals that cause oxidative stress.