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Nature's paintbrush for colorful, tasty nutrition
What makes oranges orange, blueberries blue, and cherries red? Flavonoids. These crystalline compounds give foods their bright colors and great taste.
More than 4,000 flavonoids are known. While sometimes called vitamin P, they are not truly vitamins. The medicinal effects of many foods and herbs are due to their flavonoid content.
As a class, flavonoids are powerful antioxidants which help protect our bodies from harmful free radicals. They also have antiviral, anticancer, and antiallergenic actions. The most well known flavonoids are: PCOs (proanthocyanidins), quercetin, citrus bioflavonoids, and green tea polyphenols.
Quick Facts About Flavonoids
- You get flavonoids in a variety of foods and no known RDA has been established.
- Some foods rich in flavinoids are blueberries, cherries, citrus fruits, pears, grapes, cabbage, legumes, plums, onions, coffee, tea, and wine.
- Flavonoids are known for their antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer, and antiallergenic properties.
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You May Need More Flavonoid Supplements
If you do not eat a well-balanced diet. A normal, healthy diet usually provides all the bioflavanoids you need.
What Works Best -- and Worst -- with Flavonoids
Quercetin is sometimes combined with bromelain to enhance its anti-inflammatory properties.
Product Forms Available
- Individual supplements in capsules or tablets as PCOs (grapeseed extract, pine bark), quercetin, citrus bioflavonoids, green tea polyphenols
- A constituent of many multivitamin/mineral preparations
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Flavonoids are found in all kinds of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. They belong to a class of phenolics. The joining of an aromatic group (hydroxycinnamyl coenzyme A ester) and an aliphatic group (malonyl coenzyme A) enables the formation of flavonoids. Phenylalanine and acetate are also components of flavonoids.
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Not only are flavonoids responsible for the rich colors and tastes of fruit and vegetables, they can also help us improve and maintain our health. They have powerful antioxidant properties, which help rid our bodies of damaging free radicals. Flavonoids also have antiviral, anticancer, and antiallergenic properties. Flavonoids can be categorized as PCOs (grapeseed extract, pine bark), quercetin, citrus bioflavonoids, and green tea polyphenols.
PCOs are noted as powerful antioxidants and for their ability to increase intracellular vitamin C levels. Good vitamin C levels can help with bruising, abnormal bleeding, asthma, cataracts, allergies, and colds.
Quercetin is best known for its anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic, antidiabetic, and antiviral activities. Scientists are looking into its uses for asthma, hay fever, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes.
Citrus bioflavonoids can increase intracellular levels of vitamin C. They also have antiallergic and anti-inflammatory actions. Research is being done to test their use to treat various venous insufficiency conditions such as varicose veins, diabetic vascular disease, and diabetic retinopathy.
Green tea polyphenols are most noted for their cancer-protective possibilities. The Japanese routinely drink green tea and have a lower cancer rate. Studies are underway to demonstrate this anticancer activity. Green tea has more of the cancer-protective polyphenols than does black tea.
As you can see, the many flavonoids all work together to help you maintain a healthy body.
When Ingested Regularly, Flavonoids May
- Enhance the action of vitamin C by inhibiting its breakdown in the body.
- Alleviate symptoms of allergies, arthritis, asthma, and eye problems
- Decrease bruising, bleeding, and circulatory disorders (phlebitis, varicose veins)
Storage
If you are retrieving your sources of flavonoids in the forms of fruits and vegetables, store them in the usual manner (i.e., the fruit bowl or the refrigerator). If your source of flavonoids come in the forms of vitamin and mineral supplements, store them the same way you do with other supplements, in a cool, dry place.
Exposure of flavonoid supplements to water, light, heat, and oxygen may decrease their effectiveness.
Dosage and Administration
Your best source of flavonoids is a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.
To get an adequate amount of flavonoids, try eating citrus fruits, apricots, apples, plums, blueberries, cherries, cabbage, and parsley.
If you do wish to take flavonoid supplements, you can get them as part of multi-vitamin and -mineral supplements or as individual supplements.
- PCOs: 50 mg per day, or as directed on package
- Quercetin: 200 to 400 mg three times daily, or as directed on package
- Citrus bioflavonoids: 2,000 to 6,000 mg per day, or as directed on package
- Green tea polyphenols: 300 to 400 mg per day, or as directed on package (or as a pleasant three cups of green tea per day)
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Warnings
Green tea contains caffeine which is a stimulant. Those individuals with high blood pressure or who are otherwise sensitive to caffeine may choose to take the non-caffeinated polyphenol green tea supplements.
Do not take bioflavonoids if you have a blood clotting disorder or other blood problems.
Side Effects
No serious side effects due to the ingestion of normal amounts of flavonoids have been reported.
Green tea contains caffeine which is a stimulant and can cause nervousness, anxiousness, and excitability.
If excessive amounts of diarhhea occur, decrease your intake and consult your physician.
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Sources & Further Reading
Books
1. Balch, James, F., P.A. Balch. Prescription for Nutritional Healing. Garden City Park, New York: Avery Publishing Group, 1997.
2. Blumenthal, Mark, W.R. Busse, A. Goldberg, J. Gruenwald, T. Hall, C.W. Riggins, R.S. Rister, S. Klein. The Complete German Commission E Monographs, Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Midicines. Boston, Massachusetts: American Botanical Council, 1998.
3. Duke, James A. The Green Pharmacy. New York, New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1997.
4. Facts and Comparisons: The Review of Natural Products. Facts and Comparisons, 1998.
5. Hoffman, David. The Complete Illustrated Holistic Herbal. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc, 1996.
6. Lieberman, Shari, N. Bruning. The Real Vitamin & Mineral Book. Garden City Park, New York: Avery Publishing Group, 1997.
7. Murray, Michael. Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1996.
8. Murray, Michael. The Healing Power of Herbs. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1995.
9. Tyler, Varro E. The Honest Herbal. Binghamton, New York: The Haworth Press, 1993.
10. Wichtl, Max, N.G. Bisset. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals. Germany: Medpharm GmbH Scientific Publishers, 1994.
Find more books on health and wellness at  barnesandnoble.com.
Articles
1. Basarkar, PW; Nath, N. "Cholesterol lowering action of vitamin P-like compounds in rats". Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. 19(8):787-9. Aug 1981.
2. Baylor, NW; Fu, T; Yan, YD; Ruscetti, FW. "Inhibition of human T cell leukemia virus by the plant flavonoid baicalin (7-glucuronic acid, 5,6-dihydroxyflavone)". Journal of Infectious Diseases. 165(3):433-7. Mar 1992.
3. Castagnino, E; Corsano, S; Proietti, G; Strappaghetti, G. "Evaluation of activity on capillary permeability of synthetic flavonoids". Farmaco. Edizione Scientifica. 38(1):67-72. Jan 1983.
4. Havsteen, B. "Flavonoids, a class of natural products of high pharmacological potency". Biochemical Pharmacology. 32(7):1141-8. Apr 1, 1983.
5. Kaul, TN; Middleton, E Jr; Ogra, PL. "Antiviral effect of flavonoids on human viruses". Journal of Medical Virology. 15(1):71-9. Jan 1985.
6. Nagai, T; Miyaichi, Y; Tomimori, T; Suzuki, Y; Yamada, H. "In vivo anti-influenza virus activity of plant flavonoids possessing inhibitory activity for influenza virus sialidase". Antiviral Research. 19(3):207-17. Sep 1992.
7. Ono, K; Nakane, H; Fukushima, M; Chermann, JC; Barr?-Sinoussi, F. "Differential inhibitory effects of various flavonoids on the activities of reverse transcriptase and cellular DNA and RNA polymerases". Eur J Biochem. 199(3):769. Aug 1, 1991.
8. Rao, CN; Rao, VH; Steinmann, B. "Bioflavonoid-mediated stabilization of collagen in adjuvant-induced arthritis". Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology. 12(1):39-42. 1983.
9. Vinson, JA; Bose, P. "Comparative bioavailability to humans of ascorbic acid alone or in a citrus extract". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 48(3):601-4. Sep 1988.
10. Wei, YQ; Zhao, X; Kariya, Y; Fukata, H; Teshigawara, K; Uchida, A. "Induction of apoptosis by quercetin: involvement of heat shock protein". Cancer Research. 54(18):4952-7. Sep 15, 1994.
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