Scientists have found evidence supporting the health benefiting facts about certain foods like green tea and apples.

Dr Paul Kroon and his team at the Institute of Food Research have shown that polyphenols in green tea and apples block a signalling molecule called VEGF, which in the body can trigger atherosclerosis and is a target for some anti-cancer drugs.

In the body, VEGF is a main driver of blood vessel formation in these cell types via a process called angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is crucial in cancer progression, as well as in the development of atherosclerotic plaques and plaque rupture which can cause heart attacks and stroke.

Using cells derived from human blood vessels, the researchers found that low concentrations of the polyphenols epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea and procyanidin from apples stopped a crucial signalling function of VEGF.

Inhibition of VEGF signalling by dietary polyphenols has previously been implicated in other studies, but this study provides the first evidence that polyphenols can directly interact with VEGF to block its signals, at the levels you would see in the blood stream after eating polyphenol rich foods.

Kroon said that if this effect happened in the body as well, it would provide very strong evidence for a mechanism that links dietary polyphenols and beneficial health effects.