Flavonoid diversity, not just quantity, promotes better health outcomes

Flavonoid diversity, not just quantity, promotes better health outcomes

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

Study: High diversity in dietary flavonoid intake is associated with a lower risk of mortality and major chronic diseases. Photo credit: Marilyn Barbone/Shutterstock.com

Increased flavonoid consumption is linked to better health outcomes, but the effects of expanding flavonoids have not been studied. A recently published work inNatural foodDemonstrates the health benefits of consuming multiple types of flavonoids and increasing the total amount.

introduction

Flavonoids are polyphenols found in several foods, from nuts and legumes to tea and wine. Several flavonoid categories depend on chemical structure, including anthocyanins, flavonols, flavon-3-ols, flavanones, and flavones.

Several studies show that increased consumption of flavonoids from different subclasses is associated with lower incidences of chronic diseases. This includes diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, respiratory diseases and neurodegenerative diseases.

Different flavonoids exhibit different types of bioactivity depending on their bioavailability and metabolism. They are powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant molecules, which may explain why they inhibit the development of chronic diseases driven by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

Flavonoids are also cardiac protective, improving endothelial structure and function and slowing age-related tissue deterioration by inhibiting senescence pathways. In addition, suppression of cell proliferation is a key mechanism in preventing cancer.

The current study sought to estimate the diversity of flavonoid intake in the diet and the associations of flavonoid intake with mortality and disease risk.

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

Study results

Mean flavonoid consumption was 792 mg/day, with nine flavonoids consumed on average daily. Flavan-3-ols were the most significant component at 87%. Other categories, anthocyanins, flavonols and flavanones, each accounted for 4.5%, with flavones accounting for <1%.

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

People with higher flavonoids with higher diets had less variety overall and relied primarily on tea for their flavonoid intake. In contrast, those with more varied flavonoid consumption cut out fruit and red wine. These were more often women with a slimmer build, older, more physically active and more educated.

Those with the highest flavonoid diversity had a 14% lower risk of all-cause mortality, a 10% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and a 20% lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus incidence. Respiratory and cancer risks were reduced by 8%. No statistically significant association was observed in neurodegenerative diseases with total flavonoid diversity.

Quantitatively, compared to the lowest quintile, participants in the second quintile of flavonoid intake (approximately 500 mg/day) had a 16% lower risk of death from all-cause mortality. The risk of other diseases was 9%-13% lower. The risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus was lowest in the highest quintile, 25% less than in the first quintile. For neurodegenerative diseases, a 20% lower risk was only observed in the highest quintile of total flavonoid intake and not in the variety.

These associations remained after adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and other medical risk factors. Although no statistical interactions between diversity and abundance were observed (PInteraction > 0.05), both factors independently predicted disease outcomes, suggesting that higher intake of both contributes more than either factor alone.

In particular, increased dietary diversity of flavan-3-ols and flavanones reduced all-cause mortality regardless of absolute intake. Quantitatively, consumption of flavan-3-ols was associated with a stable reduction in mortality risk in the second and higher quintiles. Conversely, a lower risk of chronic diseases occurred in the fourth or fifth quintile compared to the first.

In terms of class, the most significant reductions included a 13% lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus for flavan-3-ols and a 7% lower risk of cancer for all flavanones. For flavones, an 18% lower risk of neurodegenerative diseases and a 13% lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus were observed in the highest quintiles. The previously stated “75% cancer risk reduction” was not supported by the data and was corrected.

Similar benefits have been observed for variety in flavonoid-rich foods. 4.5 different servings of flavonoids reduced overall deaths by 16% compared to 1.3 different servings.

Total regular flavonoids and flavonoid diversity independently predicted mortality and disease risk. Instead of consuming one or a few flavonoids in higher amounts, it is better to consume a variety of flavonoid-rich foods.

Previous research on flavonoid benefits has led to the recommendation that 400-600 mg of flavan-3-ols be consumed. This recommendation could potentially be modified to include the maximum food guideline in the diet. The authors of the current study developed the Flavodiet score, which measures the number of servings of flavonoid-rich foods.

The study also used a novel approach to measuring dietary diversity: applying Hill's effective number, a metric that accounts for both the diversity and proportional intake of different flavonoid compounds.

Diploma

According to this study, mortality and chronic disease risk are reduced in people who had the greatest diversity of flavonoids in their diet, both as foods and as specific subclasses.

These results are biologically plausible due to the known ability of various flavonoids to suppress platelet aggregation and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, increase insulin sensitivity and antioxidant capacity, and inhibit inflammation. They also antagonize cancer development processes by killing tumor cells and preventing their proliferation.

“These results suggest that consuming different daily servings of flavonoid-rich foods or drinks, such as tea, berries, apples, oranges or grapes, may reduce the risk of all-cause mortality and chronic diseases. “”

However, it is important to note that this was an observational study and although the associations were strong, causality cannot be confirmed. Future studies should validate these results and investigate the sustainability of flavonoid-rich foods.

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