Polyphenol

A polyphenol antioxidant is a type of antioxidant characterized by the presence of several phenol functions. Polyphenols can block the action of enzymes that cancers need for growth and they can deactivate substances that promote the growth of cancers. The polyphenol most strongly associated with cancer prevention is epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG. In human health these compounds, numbering over 4000 distinct species, are thought to be instrumental in combating oxidative stress, a syndrome causative of some neurodegenerative diseases and some cardiovascular diseases.