Personalized Nutrition with Polyphenols – which, for whom, when and how?

Polyphenols are a heterogeneous class of secondary plant metabolites and are major constituents of fruits and vegetables. Over the past decades increasing experimental research revealed that polyphenols modulate a large diversity of cellular and molecular processes playing a key role in the etiology and pathophysiology of many chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological and psychological diseases. Clinical evidence for the efficacy of dietary interventions with polyphenols in improving health or preventing its deterioration of different patient populations is less consistent. The observation that not all trial participants evenly respond to a dietary intervention has been identified as a major reason for this inconsistency in study outcomes. As with medicine also in the field of nutrition, research awareness is increasing that a “one-size-fits-all” approach for dietary recommendation will not necessarily improve the health of an individual. In order to improve tailoring polyphenolic interventions to the specific needs of individuals, multiple personal characteristics have been suggested to be taken into account such as age, sex, comorbidities, medication, lifestyle (i.e. physical activity, smoking, dietary habits), genome, epigenome, and gut microbiome. However, a systematic analysis of the qualitative and quantitative impact of those factors on person-specific responses upon a dietary intervention is still in its infancy. Moreover, a major challenge in the future will be the translation of those findings into individual practical recommendations and their practical implementation in daily life.

Therefore, this Research Topic aims at collecting articles in the field of personalized nutrition with polyphenols that address questions amongst others on
• research design and methodological approaches that help to identify person-specific factors which
contribute to an individual`s response upon a dietary intervention with polyphenols
• the qualitative and quantitative impact of individual factors on the physiological response of a person
upon a polyphenolic intervention
• the translation of the impact of individual factors into personalized dietary recommendation with
polyphenols
• novel food innovations that could enhance the personalized intake of polyphenols
• the effects of personalized polyphenol intake on consumer behavior
• current limitations and challenges in and beyond the above-mentioned aspects

Authors are welcome to submit Original Research (or Brief Research Report) from experimental (in vitro/in vivo) or clinical studies as well as from meta-analyses, Reviews (or Mini-Reviews), Methodological papers or Case Reports that address the role and/or impact of factors affecting individual responses following consumption of polyphenols (e.g. via an enriched diet or a targeted supplementation). Also, research which aims at further investigating the health effects and characterizing the inter-individual variability in specific populations like but not limited to sporters, pregnant women, children and elderly upon the intake of polyphenols is highly welcome. The same applies to research that explores strategies and tools or contributes to the development of guidelines that help to tailor the daily intake of polyphenols to an individual`s needs.