Protection by Flavanol-Rich Foods Against Vascular Dysfunction and Oxidative Damage: 27th Hohenheim Consensus Conference1
- Helmut Sies2,3,4,*,
- Peter C.H. Hollman5,
- Tilman Grune6,
- Wilhelm Stahl2,
- Hans K. Biesalski7, and
- Gary Williamson8
- 2Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I and
- 3Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
- 4College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 5RIKILT Institute of Food Safety and Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
- 6Department of Nutritional Toxicology, Institute of Nutrition, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
- 7Institute for Biological Chemistry and Nutrition, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; and
- 8Functional Food, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
- ↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sies{at}uni-duesseldorf.de.
Abstract
Criteria for assessing the purported protection by flavanol-rich foods against vascular dysfunction and oxidative damage to biomolecules was the subject of the 27th Hohenheim Consensus Conference held on July 11, 2011. State-of-the-art evidence was put into perspective, focusing on several questions that were followed by a consensus answer. Among the topics addressed were the major sources of flavanols in the human diet, the bioavailability of flavanols, biomarkers for “health benefit,” and the biological function of flavanols. Consensus was reached on these topics. No conclusion was reached on the design of randomized, controlled trials for substantiation of health claims for flavanol-rich foods as to the necessity of a study arm with an isolated pharmacologically active compound, e.g., (−)-epicatechin.
Footnotes
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↵1 Author disclosures: H. Sies, P.C.H. Hollman, T. Grune, W. Stahl, H.K. Biesalski, and G. Williamson, no conflicts of interest.
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9 Abbreviations used: EFSA, European Food Safety Authority; FMD, flow-mediated dilation; PWV, pulse wave velocity.
- © 2012 American Society for Nutrition
