Phenolic compounds are abundant in plants as they are used by the plants as secondary metabolites. When humans and animals eat the plants they can absorb the phenolic compounds or their metabolites following bacterial alteration, and this may provide significant health effects. Phenolic compounds appear to be able to alter brain function, perhaps through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pathways. Stress is known to increase oxidation and inflammation in the brain and this is characteristic of anxiety and depression and other mood disorders. Treatment with phenolic compounds can reverse this process and this may be the mechanism by which phenolic compounds can be used as antidepressants and as anxiolytic drugs. One of the consequences of the stress response in the brain is that altered states of brain methylation are observed, indicating changes to gene expression. Phenolic compounds can reverse these altered states and return the brain to normal levels and patterns of methylation.
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