Do you feel like your immune and respiratory system needs some extra love? Well, look no further than the flavonoid quercetin. Quercetin is a naturally occurring antioxidant commonly found in fruits and vegetables, including dark berries, grapes, and dark leafy greens! Green tea and red wine are also known to have notable amounts of quercetin.
This potent antioxidant not only boosts your immune system and supports respiratory health, but it can help with your body’s natural response to allergens, histamines, and inflammation. Let’s dive into the top six quercetin benefits that you need to know.
Benefits of Quercetin
1. Supports Normal Respiratory Health
When your respiratory system is irritated, redness and swelling can result from the release of histamines. Quercetin may be your newest go-to supplement! It’s shown to have an antihistamine effect. Quercetin influences intracellular enzymes and may help inhibit histamine release.[1] This can often provide relief for watery eyes, runny nose, and swelling in the face. Quercetin may even help with photosensitivity — extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and other light sources.[2]
2. Boosts Heart Health
Keeping your heart healthy starts with eating nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables that contain high levels of flavonoids. Flavonoids compounds are found naturally in many fruits and vegetables and are high in antioxidants! It’s shown that the consumption of flavonoids, especially quercetin, offers a two-fold in promoting overall cardiovascular health. First, it encourages blood flow.[3]Secondly, quercetin’s antioxidant action protects against LDL cholesterol oxidation. This may be beneficial because oxidation causes LDL cholesterol to stick to artery walls.[4]
3. Promotes Balanced Blood Pressure
Did you know nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure? Blood pressure can be a complex mix of mechanisms inside your body, working together harmoniously. In addition to supporting cardiovascular health, quercetin naturally promotes balanced blood pressure, which is vital to your overall health. Quercetin supplementation has been researched and shown to stabilize systolic, diastolic, and average arterial pressure.[5]
4. Offers Protection Against Stress
When your body is stressed, it produces cortisol — aka the stress hormone. Cortisol is a hormone that creates a “fight or flight” response. Many situations can elevate cortisol levels — including lack of sleep and busy lifestyles. Although this is normal, when your stress levels are high and ongoing, cortisol can damage muscle tissue, leading to protein breakdown in the body. Quercetin can fight these effects during extended stress as it suppresses the enzyme necessary for cortisol release.[6]
5. May Benefit Upper Respiratory Conditions
While more research is needed, there are promising results that quercetin may offer a bronchial dilating effect. Quercetin has been shown to inhibit an enzyme that breaks down signaling proteins, which produce swelling and airway narrowing. Quercetin causes a relaxation of the airway smooth muscle, suggesting it may offer therapeutic solutions for people suffering from upper respiratory conditions.[7]
6. Offers Nutritional Support for Overall Health
Listen, putting good nutrition into your body is one of the best measures you can take to encourage good health. It’s not a guarantee, and some people will still get sick, but it’s a good foundation and fundamental path. Why should quercetin be part of your approach? Because research has shown that people who consume more fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of some diseases. Since quercetin is the most abundant dietary flavonoid, it’s a great option to include in your diet.[8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
Supplementing With Quercetin
Finding the right quercetin supplement can be tricky. Many companies use synthetic ingredients that aren’t absorbable and can’t offer the same level of protection your body needs. If you’re looking for a quercetin supplement, I suggest our latest Plant-Based Quercetin. It’s an enhanced formula that contains phytosome technology crafted using sunflower lecithin that delivers active quercetin into cells to support the body’s natural response to allergens and inflammation. You’ll get the most out of each capsule because our advanced technology increases your body’s ability to absorb active quercetin up to 20 times higher than standard quercetin.
Author: Dr. Edward Group
Source: https://explore.globalhealing.com/health-benefits-of-quercetin/
