By Leslie Taylor ©2025

America is in the middle of a healthcare crisis. Not only are healthcare and insurance costs rising each year, the quickly rising number of people facing chronic diseases are packing doctors’ offices at a rapid pace. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 129 million adults in the United States (60%) have at least one chronic disease and about 42% of adults have two or more chronic diseases. This includes conditions such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity and more. Approximately 1 in 3 young people in the U.S. currently live with a chronic condition or functional limitation. That polyphenols and natural antioxidants like vitamin C can make a huge impact on preventing diseases almost sounds too simple and too good to be true. However, if you look at the radical changes that have taken place in our diet and lifestyles and relate that to the rise of chronic disease, it’s not so hard to understand.

Over the last 50 years, the average American diet has changed significantly. If one takes a step back and looks at the overall broad changes, the most significant factor seen is that our diets consist of food that’s lacking in essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant polyphenols and includes far too many types of food that promote free radical production and/or harm our built-in natural antioxidant system. The end result has our protective antioxidant system in a state a crisis, which has contributed to the significant rise in chronic diseases we’re faced with today. This article will discuss how our diet has changed our antioxidant levels and explain how you can avoid the most common chronic and age-related diseases to promote a longer and heathier life with an antioxidant-rich diet or antioxidant-rich supplements, or both.

The Western Diet

The average Western diet is low in polyphenols, and the so-called advancements we’ve made in how we process food over the years seems to be all about removing polyphenols from the food we eat. For example, the largest supply of polyphenols in grains are in the coating of the grain seeds. We went from eating lots of healthy polyphenol-rich whole grains to consuming processed white flour and white rice with the seed coating removed. That is how whole wheat is processed into white flour—they remove the darker-colored polyphenol-rich coating of the seed. This has lowered our polyphenol intake levels significantly.

Starches

The Western diet contains lots of starchy processed foods using white flour. Cakes, cookies, white bread, starchy sweet cereals, pastas . . . we are consuming way too many calories from starches in our diet that are lacking in any polyphenols. It isn’t surprising that the main vegetable eaten in the Western diet is starchy potatoes. And the popularity of French fries isn’t going away anytime soon! Most of the polyphenols in potatoes are in the skin, which is usually removed during processing. The high starch in the Western diet increases overall calories of average meals, and when you combine that with less physical exercise in our more sedentary lifestyles, it ends up as one of the causes of weight gain and obesity. But as you’ll soon learn, just having less polyphenols in your diet or having chronic oxidative stress is another important cause of weight gain and obesity in the rapidly expanding world population—expanding in weight faster than in population numbers.

Fats

Instead of natural butter and animal fat (lard) comprising most of the fat we used to consume, hydrogenated vegetable oils and margarines replaced them. Butter is a source of polyphenols and essential fat-soluble vitamin antioxidants, as well as important essential fatty acids that act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Even animal fats contain polyphenols and beneficial fatty acids.

Additionally, infusing today’s manufactured fats and vegetable oils with hydrogen to extend their shelf-life promotes more reactive oxygen species (ROS) free radicals to form as our bodies try to digest them. Frying foods repeatedly in the same hydrogenated vegetable oil (think fast-food French fries and fried chicken) actually creates free radicals in the oil, so eating these types of fried foods raises our free radical levels because we are actually consuming more free radicals.

So instead of our dietary fats providing natural antioxidants to fight free radicals, the fats we are consuming today contain free radicals and/or promote the creation of free radicals. In fact, it is the polyphenol profile of olive oil that makes this oil a great “healthy oil”—olive oil is full of polyphenols. It’s also why butter is making a comeback as being a “healthy fat” again and why you should consider adding butter and olive oil to your diet to replace some (or all) of the margarine and hydrogenated oils you currently consume.

Sugars

White sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) have replaced the brown sugar, honey, molasses, and other natural sugars we used to consume years ago. The one thing in common among the natural sugars we no longer eat regularly is their polyphenol content. Processing sugarcane or beets into white sugar removes all the polyphenols, which usually taste bitter. The actual sugarcane and beet plants are full of polyphenols; the processed white sugar from these plants has none.

More alarming, scientists now report that consuming HCFS can slow the production and action of our natural enzyme antioxidants, which we need to keep free radicals in check. You’d be amazed at how quickly your free radical levels would decrease if you just eliminated the sodas and fruit juices with HFCS from your diet. When I read this new research, I wondered whether high-HFCS foods should bear a warning label just like cigarettes do. Both generate an unhealthy level of free radicals with inevitable health issues. While consuming too much of any kind of sugar has established negative health effects, the high level of white sugar and HFCS is one of the main negative effects in the Western diet that increases our risks of developing chronic diseases.

Fruits and Vegetables

The Western diet is also very low in raw fruits and vegetables. As a society, we are consuming way too much processed and fast foods in our busy lives, and these types of meals are severely lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables are supposed to be the main source of polyphenols in our diet. Researchers looking at this aspect of diet and nutrition in the modern diet reported that the main source of polyphenols in the Western diet now comes from coffee and chocolate. Polyphenols from vegetables in the diet came in dead last. Even drinking wine (which contains polyphenols) was higher than vegetables in their analyses. This is mostly because we just aren’t eating the daily recommendation of nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day—and usually far less than that. And if one or more of those servings in our diet is a fruit juice loaded with HFCS, it doesn’t really count since it will do more harm than good for our antioxidant system.

While coffee and chocolate do contain a significant amount of polyphenols (the polyphenol profile is similar in both sources), those who consume them exclusively are still missing many other important beneficial polyphenols from other foods sources. And let’s face it, fruits and vegetables are also an important and main source of the vitamins and minerals in our diets that we need to be healthy—chocolate and coffee are pretty lacking in that department. In fact, the researchers studying the natural antioxidants in modern diets noted that when you look at all antioxidants consumed in modern diets, those coming from vitamin-type antioxidants (vitamins A, C, and E) represented less than 10 percent of the total natural antioxidants consumed. We simply cannot rely on just coffee and chocolate (or wine) alone for the polyphenols we need—not if we want to stay healthy.

The Net Results of Poor Diets

Basically, the hallmark of a Western diet is the lack of essential nutrients we need, including natural vitamins and polyphenols that keep our antioxidant system humming along and doing its job of keeping free radicals in check. Havoc ensues when our antioxidant system falters or we’re consuming too many empty calories from foods lacking in these nutrients and which promote more free radicals instead.

Before we discuss what damage and diseases oxidative stress causes, you need to know about chronic inflammation. You may be surprised to learn that one of the main deregulations and effects that free radicals cause is the level of inflammation in our bodies. Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation go hand in hand and have surfaced as the “root of all evil” when it comes to chronic diseases. Free radicals and inflammation are uniquely intertwined since inflammation promotes the creation of free radicals and free radicals promote inflammation—they are reacting together in a self-perpetuating cycle that leads to the development of multiple diseases.

The Inflammation Connection

Inflammation seems to be the new buzzword in the health industry, in both conventional and natural health circles—as well it should be. Tens of thousands of researchers and scientists around the world have documented the major role that inflammation plays in health and disease, and their discoveries are staggering. We now know that inflammation can be a cause of or a contributing factor to a wide range of disorders, including almost every chronic disease. There are even new anti-inflammatory diet and recipe books being published these days, teaching readers how they can modify their diets to reduce inflammation. And, if you read them, most promote excluding foods that promote the generation of free radicals (the wrong kinds of fats and sugars) and adding lots of polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables.

Some books and researchers talk about the connection between free radicals and chronic inflammation, and some only focus on the inflammation factor. However, what everyone should be learning is that the main cause of chronic inflammation is the negative effect of too many free radicals damaging cells in many parts of the body. Free radical damage causes inflammation. Taking antioxidants instead of anti-inflammatories can well treat the underlying causes of chronic inflammation in addition to the diseases they cause instead of just treating the inflammatory symptoms. Once you get your antioxidant system healthy and humming along as well as reduce your free radical load, you don’t need to take anti-inflammatories to just treat symptoms.

When most people think of inflammation, they think of the body’s temporary response to injury and infection—a response that can be painful but is an essential part of the body’s healing process. Unfortunately, not all inflammation is beneficial to the body. To understand why, we have to look at the difference between acute and chronic inflammation and how free radicals cause chronic inflammation.

Acute Inflammation

Acute inflammation is where our immune system shines. When we suffer an injury, such as a sprained ankle, chemical messengers known as cytokines are released by the damaged tissue and cells at the site of injury. These cytokines act as “emergency signals” that send out more of the body’s immune cells, hormones, and nutrients. Blood vessels dilate and blood flow increases so that the healing agents can move quickly into the blood to flood the injured area. This inflammatory response is what causes the ankle to turn red and become swollen. As the healing agents go to work, the ankle is repaired, and the inflammation gradually subsides.

When you get a cut or wound, the same thing happens. Special white blood cells (known as natural killer cells) along with clotting and scabbing nutrients rush to the area to prevent infection, stop the bleeding, and form a scab. Again, the body’s response causes redness and inflammation around the wound, but it is a sign that your immune system is at work protecting you from infection and healing the injury. Without this natural inflammatory response, wounds would fester and infections would abound.

Chronic Inflammation

Long-term, or chronic inflammation is different from acute inflammation, and it’s where our immune system and our natural inflammatory processes can cause problems. Chronic inflammation is also called persistent, low-grade inflammation because it can produce a steady, low level of inflammation throughout the body. This condition has been proven to contribute to many diseases, and research suggests it may cause some common chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, and even aging. Low levels of inflammation can be triggered by a perceived internal threat—just as an injury triggers acute inflammation—even when there isn’t a disease to fight or an injury to heal. This can activate the body’s natural immune response, and inflammation is the result.

Free Radicals: The Leading Cause of Chronic Inflammation

The cellular damage caused by free radicals is the main perceived threat in our bodies that activates the immune system to cause inflammation. When healthy cells become damaged or begin dying from free radical damage, the body triggers the immune system to start the inflammatory process in an effort to repair or remove the cells. Because free radicals are distributed throughout the body, and the cellular damage is occurring cell by cell wherever a free radical interacts with a healthy cell, the inflammatory response spreads throughout the body. The cell-by-cell damage is smaller than damage caused by injury or infection, so the inflammation response is much smaller. This results in low levels of chronic inflammation throughout the body as the immune system tries to do its job of cleaning up or repairing free radical–damaged cells.

Unfortunately, when an imbalance occurs between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract these substances’ negative effects, a negative feedback loop can be generated. In some cells and systems in the body, oxidative stress causes inflammation, and the inflammation can trigger the generation of even more free radicals. Then these additional free radicals create more oxidative stress, which causes more inflammation—a vicious cycle is created, and everything become chronic. It is important to understand that this process may have a detrimental effect on every one of our cells and in many of our complicated internal biochemical processes in different organs. This negative cycle can continue silently, usually without any outward symptoms or signs, causing us significant risks of developing chronic disease without even knowing.

While free radical damage can be the biggest cause of chronic inflammation, it’s certainly not the only cause. But that’s where polyphenol antioxidants can play a huge role and a greater one than vitamin antioxidants and our own natural enzyme antioxidants can. Most all polyphenols have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. Polyphenols work in several ways to reduce and relieve inflammation, not just through reducing free radicals. Whether a problem is created by oxidative stress or chronic inflammation, polyphenols can be effective—if you pick the plants that have the right polyphenol combinations and profiles.

To learn more about how polyphenols can both treat and prevent chronic and age-related diseases, go on to the next article.

Articles in this Series:

What are Free Radicals and Antioxidants?
The Power of Polyphenols
Low Polyphenol Diets: The Hallmark of the New Western Diet
How Polyphenols Can Prevent and Treat Disease