Flavonoids

Flavonoids are natural chemicals found in plants, fruits, and vegetables. The rainbow of colours with which plants dazzle us, owe their origin to flavonoids. More than 4000 chemically unique flavonoids are known; they occur in fruits, vegetables, spices, seeds, nuts, flowers, and bark.

Wine, red wine, in particular apples, grapes, berries, onions, soy products, beer and tea are some of the best food sources of flavonoids, Certain flavonoids in fruits and vegetables have much greater antioxidant activity than vitamins C and E or beta-carotene.

Alber Szent Gyorgyi, the Nobel laureate who discovered vitamin C, first isolated in the 1930s flavonoids. Flavonoids strengthened capillary walls in ways vitamin C could not, was his discovery

Need for high-flavonoid foods:

• Easy bruising
• Frequent nose bleeds
• Excessive inflammation after injury
• Frequent cold and infections
• As we process food for energy, our body produces substances called, free radicals. Just like rust on a car, free radicals can cause damage to cells and may contribute to aging.

Free radicals travel through the cell, disrupting the structure of other molecules and resulting in cellular damage. Such damage is believed to contribute to aging and various health problems.

Antioxidants slow oxidation, a natural process that leads to cell and tissue damage.

• Flavonoids may help in providing protection against these diseases by contributing, along with antioxidant vitamins and enzymes, to the total antioxidant defense system of the human body.
• Studies have shown flavonoid intake may lower incidences of coronary heart disease. They prevent blood clots, protect against oxidation of LDL, bad cholesterol and reduce high blood pressure.
• Flavonoids regulate nitric oxide, a potent free radical.
• When it comes to vitamin C, flavonoid makes it stronger. 
• Flavonoids prevent excessive inflammation in the body.
• In some cases, flavonoids act as antibiotics.

When we cook food items containing flavonoids, like spinach, onions, this magic potion reduces drastically.

Few health conditions require special emphasis on flavonoids-

• Allergy
• Asthma
• Catracts
• Diabetes
• Gout
• Macular degeneration
• Migraine
• Stomach ulcer
• Varicose veins

Flavonoids are an important reminder that the nutritional benefits of wholesome foods go beyond familiar vitamins and minerals.

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