Elvira de Mejia
American food scientist
Elvira de Mejia (born in 1950) is a biochemist and food scientist, currently working as a professor of food sciences and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She is an expert in the areas of food science, food toxicology, and chemoprevention.
Education
De Mejia earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemical engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico. She went on to receive a master's degree in food science and technology from the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology from the National Polytechnic Institute.
Research
De Mejia's work has focused on bioactive food components, especially proteins and flavonoids. Her research touches on the health benefits of compounds in certain foods such as legumes, oilseeds, and vegetables.
Her lab has also studied the molecular mechanisms responsible for certain biological effects of teas used in folk medicines. For instance, De Mejia's 2007 study found that consuming 0.5 liters of yerba mate tea increases activity levels of the enzyme that produces HDL cholesterol, and lowers levels of LDL cholesterol. Study participants who drank mate tea had a 10% increase in the level of cardioprotective enzyme PON1, a precursor to HDL, compared to others drinking milk or coffee. De Meija and others found in a 2009 study that catechins and theaflavins found in tea may reduce the risk of various types of cancers.
“Elvira de Mejia” enters the record as american food scientist. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Elvira, Mejia and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16732439. VIAF identifies the subject as 49562112. The Library of Congress control number is n2006044684. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1950, 2007 and 2009.
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This entry incorporates text from “Elvira de Mejia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.