The diversity of flavonoids, not only quantity, leads better health results

Drinking tea helps, but by adding apples, berries and citrus fruits to your plate to mix your flavonoid consumption could be the key to a longer, healthier life.

Study: The high variety of dietary intake of flavonoids is associated with a lower risk of mortality of all causes and large chronic diseases. Credit Picture: Marilyn Barbone/Shutterstock.com

Increased consumption of flavonoids is linked to better health effects, but the impact of expanding flavonoids has not been studied. A recent document published in Nature It demonstrates the effects that promote the health of consumption of multiple flavonoids and the increase in total amount.

Import

Flavonoids are polyphenols in various foods, from nuts and legumes to tea and wine. Multiple categories of flavonoids depend on the chemical structure, including anthocyanins, flavonols, flavonians-3-ols, flavans and flavons.

Many studies show that increased consumption of flavonoids from different subcategories is associated with lower cases of chronic diseases. This includes conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, respiratory disease and neurodegenerative disease.

Different flavonoids have a variety of bio -visibility, depending on bioavailability and metabolism. It is powerful anti -inflammatory and antioxidant molecules, which can explain why they inhibit the development of chronic diseases driven by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

Flavonoids are also heart protection, improving endothelial structure and functioning and slowing age -related tissue deterioration with the inhibition of aging roads. In addition, the suppression of cell proliferation is a key mechanism for cancer prevention.

The current study sought to appreciate the diversity of flavonoid intake in diet and the compounds of flavonoid intake with the risk of mortality and illness.

The study group included 124,805 UK adults 40 years old or more, mainly female (56%). Less than 10% smoked, but 60% were overweight or obese. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol was 4%, 25%and 15%respectively.

Study findings

The average consumption of flavonoids was 792 mg/day, with nine flavonoids consumed on average daily. Flavan-3-Ols was the most important element at 87%. Other categories, anthocyanins, flavonols and flavanones, were 4.5% each, with flavonians representing <1%.

Black or green tea was the main source of flavonoids at 67%, while apples were 6%and red wine 5%. Other sources, including grapes and berries, contributed 2%. Oranges, satsumas, orange juice and black chocolate represented 1%. Overall, these accounted for 85% of the daily intake.

People with higher dietary flavonoids had less diversity overall, mainly based on flavonoid intake tea. On the contrary, those with a more different consumption of flavonoids came from fruits and red wine. These were more likely to be women with a weaker physical shape, larger, more physically active and more educated.

Those with the highest diversity of flavonoids had a 14% lower risk of mortality of all causes, 10% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 20% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The risks of respiratory and cancer decreased by 8%. No statistically significant correlation was observed for neurodegenerative disease with a total variety of flavonoids.

Quantitatively, compared to the lower quedmor, participants in the second pendant of flavonoid intake (about 500 mg/day) had a 16% lower risk of death from mortality of all causes. The risk of other diseases was 9%-13%lower. The risk of type 2 diabetes was lower in the highest pendulum, 25% less than in the first pent. For neurodegenerative disease, a 20% lower risk was observed only in the highest quintility of total flavonoid intake and not in diversity.

These compounds remained after adapting for demographics, lifestyles and other medical risk factors. Although no statistical interactions were observed between diversity and quantity (P._interaction > 0.05), both factors predicted independently of the effects of diseases, which suggests that the highest recruitments of both contribute more than only the factor.

Specifically, an increased variety of Flavan-3-Ols and Flavanones in the diet reduced the mortality of all causes regardless of total intake. Quantitically, consumption of Flavan-3-OLS was associated with a steady reduction in mortality risk in the second and higher quinitia. On the contrary, a lower risk of chronic disease occurred mainly in the fourth or fifth quibble compared to the first.

The most significant reductions included 13% lower risk of type 2 diabetes for Flavan-3-OLs and a lower risk of cancer 7% for all flavanones. For Flavons, a lower risk of neurodegenerative disease was observed by 18% and a lower risk of 13% of type 2 diabetes in the highest pendant. The previous reported “reduction in the risk of cancer 75%” was not supported by the data and has been corrected.

Similar benefits were observed for diversity in flavonoid -rich foods. With 4.5 different portions of flavonoids reduced the deaths of all causes by 16% compared to 1.3 different portions.

The total amount of flavonoids consumed regularly and the diversity of flavonoids independently predicted mortality and risk of diseases. Instead of consuming one or some flavonoids in higher amounts, it is best to include a wide variety of flavonoid foods.

Previous research on flavonoid benefits has led to the recommendation to consume 400-600 mg Flavan-3 -ls. This recommendation could potentially be modified to include the guideline that multiple sources will be included in the diet for maximum benefit. The authors of the current study have developed the flavodiet score, which measures the number of portions of rich in flavonoid foods.

The study also used a new approach to measure nutritional diversity: applying the effective number of Hill, a measurement that represents both the variety and analogue intake of different flavonoids.

Conclusion

According to this study, the risk of mortality and chronic diseases is reduced among people who have the largest variety of flavonoids in their diet, both as food and as specific subcategories.

These results are biologically reasonably because of the well -known ability of different flavonoids to suppress platelet aggregation and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, increase insulin sensitivity and antioxidant capacity and inhibit inflammation. They also deal with the processes of developing cancer by killing tumor cells and preventing them from proliferation.

“These findings indicate that eating several different daily portions of rich in flavonoid foods or drinks, such as tea, berries, apples, oranges or grapes, can reduce the risk of mortality and chronic diseases of all causes. ”

However, it is important to note that this was an observation study and while the compounds were strong, the causal relevance cannot be confirmed. Future studies should validate these findings and explore the viability of rich in flavonoid foods.

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