Quercetin: What is it?
Quercetin, a member of the flavonoid class, is a natural compound ubiquitously found in various food sources such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and wine. It has been reported to have a wide range of health promoting effects and has gained significant attention over the years (Olina, et al., 2021)
Quercetin, as an important flavonoid, has various properties such as decreasing blood pressure, anti‐hyperlipidemia, anti‐hyperglycemia, anti‐oxidant, antiviral, anticancer, anti‐inflammatory, anti‐microbial, neuroprotective, and cardio‐protective effects (Hosseini, et al., 2021)
Known for its antioxidant activity in radical scavenging and anti-allergic properties characterized by stimulation of immune system, antiviral activity, inhibition of histamine release, decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines, leukotrienes creation, and suppresses interleukin IL-4 production But best to have with vitamin C. There is evidence that vitamin C and quercetin co-administration exerts a synergistic antiviral action due to overlapping antiviral and immunomodulatory properties and the capacity of ascorbate to recycle quercetin (Biancatelli et al., 2020)
Effect of quercetin on the improvement of the signs of MetS, including elevated glucose level, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and blood pressure (Hosseini, et al., 2021). It may also play a role in the management of metabolic disorders via different mechanisms such as increasing adiponectin, decreasing leptin, anti‐oxidant activity, reduction of insulin resistance, the elevation of insulin level, and blocking of calcium channel (Hosseini, et al., 2021).
And as if you weren’t already impressed, quercetin protects human thyroid cells against cadmium toxicity (which has been identified as an endocrine-disrupting chemical) (Capriglione, et al., 2021).
So what are you waiting for? It time to make an appointment to discover if you would benefit from adding more quercetin into your diet.
References
Biancatelli, R., Berrill, M., Catravas, J. & Marik, P. (2020). Quercetin and Vitamin C: An Experimental, Synergistic Therapy for the Prevention and Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Related Disease (COVID-19). Frontiers in Immunology
Capriglione, F., Maiuolo, J., Celano, M., Damante, G., Russo, D., Bulotta, S., & Maggisano, V. (2021). Quercetin protects human thyroid cells against cadmium toxicity. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(13), 6849–6849. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22136849
Hosseini, A., Razavi, B. M., Banach, M., & Hosseinzadeh, H. (2021). Quercetin and metabolic syndrome: a review. Phytotherapy Research, 35(10), 5352–5364. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.7144
Olina, D., Pauline, M., Nathalie, T.-T., Pierre, E. N., Eric, T., & Michel, C. (2021). Therapeutic potential of quercetin to alleviate endothelial dysfunction in age-related cardiovascular diseases, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2021.658400
