Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T05:48:33.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Optimal nutrition: fibre and phytochemicals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

Ian Rowland*
Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Centre for Diet and Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, UK
*
Corresponding author: Professor Ian Rowland, fax + 44 (0)1265 323023, email i.rowland@ulst.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

There is currently intense research interest in secondary plant metabolites because of their potential preventative effects on the chronic diseases of Western societies, especially cardiovascular disease and cancer. To date most of the research has focused on the identification of plant-derived substances and their potential protective effects against specific chronic diseases. The important issue of determining the optimal intake of those substances, such that the beneficial effects are maximized without manifestation of adverse effects, has yet to be addressed in most cases. Furthermore, there are no specific functional markers that can be used to assess optimal intake, although it may be possible to use biomarkers such as serum cholesterol if the rest of the diet is strictly controlled. The present review discusses a wide range of substances associated with plants, including dietary fibre, resistant starch, oligosaccharides, phyto-oestrogens, phytosterols, flavonoids, terpenes and isothiocyanates, and attempts where possible to indicate optimal intakes and to suggest functional markers.

Type
‘Optimal nutrition’
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1999

References

Adlercreutz, H (1995) Phytoestrogens: Epidemiology and possible role in cancer protection. Environmental Health Perspectives 103, Suppl. 7, 103112.Google ScholarPubMed
American Institute for Cancer Research (editors) (1998) Dietary Phytochemicals in Cancer Prevention and Treatment. Advances in Experimental Biology and Medicine, vol. 401. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Arora, A, Nair, MG & Strasburg GM (1998) Antioxidant activities of isoflavones and their biological metabolites in a liposomal system. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 356, 133141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bingham, SA, Atkinson, C, Liggins, J, Bluck, L & Coward, A (1998) Phyto-oestrogens: where are we now? British Journal of Nutrition 79, 393406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowey, EA, Rowland, IR, Adlercreutz, H, Sanders, TAB & Wiseman, H (1998) Interindividual variation in soya isoflavone metabolism: the role of habitual diet. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 58, 000A.Google Scholar
Cromwell, PL, Siar Ayoubi, A & Burke, YD (199) Antitumorigenic effects of limonene and perillyl alcohol against pancreatic and breast cancer. In Dietary Phytochemicals in Cancer Prevention and Treatment. Advances in Experimental Biology and Medicine, vol. 401, pp. 131136[American Institute for Cancer Research, editors]. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Gibson, GR, Beatty, ER, Wang, X & Cummings, JH (1995) Selective stimulation of Bifidobacteria in the human colon by oligofructose and inulin. Gastroenterology 108, 975982.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hecht, SS (1995) Chemoprevention by isothiocyanates. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 22, Suppl., 195209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hohl, RJ (1996) Monoterpenes as regulators of malignant cell proliferation. In Dietary Phytochemicals in Cancer Prevention and Treatment. Advances in Experimental Biology and Medicine, vol. 401, pp. 137146[American Institute for Cancer Research, editors]. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Markiewicz, L, Garey, J, Aldercreutz, H & Gurpide, E (1993) In vitro bioassays of non-steroidal phytoestrogens. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry 45, 399405.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miettinen, TA, Puska, P, Gylling, H, Vanhanen, H & Vartiainen, E (1995) Reduction in serum cholesterol with sitostanol-ester margarine in a mildly hypercholesterolemic population. New England Journal of Medicine 16, 13081312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milligan, SR, Balasubramanian, AV & Kalita, JC (1998) Relative potency of xenobiotic estrogens in an acute in vivo mammalian assay. Environmental Health Perspective 106, 2326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omenn, GS, Goodman, G, Thornquist, M, Grizzle, J, Rosenstock, L, Barnhart, S, Balmes, J, Cherniack, MG, Cullen, MR, Glass, A, Keogh, J, Meyskens, F, Valanis, B & Williams, J (1994) The beta carotene and retinol efficacy trial (CARET) for chemoprevention of lung cancer in high risk populations: smokers and asbestos-exposed workers. Cancer Research 54, 2038s2043s.Google ScholarPubMed
Reilly, J, Dean, TS, Rowland, I, Sanders, TAB & Wiseman, H (1999) The influence of dietary isoflavones on markers of lipid peroxidation in healthy male and female volunteers. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 58 (In the Press).Google Scholar
Reinli, K & Block, G (1996) Phytoestrogen content of foods – a compendium of literature values. Nutrition and Cancer 26, 123148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, PM (1996) Beta carotene takes a collective beating. Lancet 347, 249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sathyamoorthy, N & Wang, TTY (1997) Differential effects of dietary phyto-oestrogens daidzein and equol on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. European Journal of Cancer 33, 23842389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steinmetz, KA & Potter, JD (1991) Vegetables, fruit and cancer. Epidemiology Cancer Causes and Control 2, 325357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, LU, Robb, P, Serraino, M & Cheung, F (1991) Mammalian lignan production from various foods. Nutrition and Cancer 16, 4352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watzl, B & Leitzman, C (1995) Bioaktive Substanzen in Lebenmitteln (Bioactive Substances in Foods). Stuttgart, Germany: Hippokrates Verlag.Google Scholar
Woteki, CE (1995) Consumption, intake patterns, and exposure. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 35, 143147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zava, DT & Duwe, G (1998) Estrogenic and antiproliferative properties of genistein and other flavonoids in human breast cancer cells in vitro. Nutrition and Cancer 27, 3140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar