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"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" was expressed by Hippocrates more than 2000 years ago and the health benefits of natural food products have been considered for different goals since the ancient times. As natural phytochemicals, phenolic compounds (PCs) are a major class of semi-water-soluble compounds (from fruit and vegetable sources) with one or more benzene rings that are generally found in nature as glycosides. According to a review of the literature, food scientists have studied the many health benefits of these compounds against pernicious human diseases (HDs). Today, choosing a healthy diet has become an essential part of healthy living and fitness. Many studies have shown that people who follow a specific diet (especially polyphenol-rich diets) are at a low risk for a range of chronic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc. The present research is a comprehensive review of studies on PCs with a focus on HDs that seeks to find out why some PCs have received such considerable attention all over the world. Data were collected from the Scopus database and a hierarchical cluster analysis was used with Ward's method to analyze the data. The results showed that three countries most involved in research on PCs are USA, China, and India, and also found that quercetin, catechin, and kaempferol are the three most studied PCs. Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and infectious diseases are the major treatment targets for PCs. The review of the literature showed that these compounds share a common molecular mode of action against HDs. The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, Food Chemistry, PLOS ONE, and Planta Medica are also the most popular journals for covering original research on PCs. However, this study seeks to facilitate future studies on PCs through its findings.Abbreviations: ROS: Reactive oxygen species; DPPH: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; ABTS: 2,2′-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid); DMPD: Dimethyl-4-phenylenediamine; COX: Cyclooxygenase; PI3K: phosphoinositide 3-kinase; ERK: extracellular signal-regulated kinase; GalR: galanin receptor; PKC: protein kinase C delta type; Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma 2; PPARγ: peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HIV: human Immunodeficiency Virus; HDACs; histone deacetylases; SREBP-1c; sterol regulatory element-binding proteins; GLUT: glucose transferase; RAGE: receptor for advanced glycation end products; TRAIL: tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor α; PKC: protein kinase C; IRS: insulin receptor substrate; NFκB: nuclear factor-κB; JNK: c-jun amino terminal kinase; MAPK: mitogen activated protein kinase; PEPCK: phosphoenolpyruvatecarboxykinase; G6Pase: glucose-6-phosphatase; RNS: reactive nitrogen species; VLDL: very low-density lipoprotein; HDL: high-density lipoprotein; CaMK II: calmodulin kinase II; MCP: Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein; JAK: Janus kinase; STAT: signal transducers and activators of transcription; EGFR: epidermal growth factor receptor; VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGFR: vascular endothelial growth factor receptor; PKA: protein kinase A; PTK: protein-tyrosine kinase;AP-1: activator protein 1; Her2/neu: human epidermal growth factor receptor 2;mTOR: the mechanistic target of rapamycin; IL: interleukin; COMT: cathecol-o-methyl transferase; UGT: uridine-5ʹ-diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase; MMP-2: matrix metalloproteinase-2; AhR: the aryl hydrocarbon receptor; CYP: cytochrome P450; DR: death receptor; TGL: triglycerides; TC: total cholesterol; EGCG: (-)-epigallocatechingallate; EGC: (-)-epigallocatechin; ECG: (-)-epicatechingallate; EC: (-)-epicatechin; ELK1: ETS domain-containing protein Elk-1; MAPK: Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase; HGFR: hepatocyte growth factor receptor; HDAC: histone deacetylase; DNMT: DNA methyl transferase; HAT; histone acetyltransferase; C/EBP-α: CCAAT-enhancer-binding proteins; LPL: Lipoprotein lipase; iNOS: inducible nitric oxide synthase.
Rasouli et al. (Fri,) studied this question.