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Flavonoids in food extend your life expectancy
Do you want to live longer? Then cut as many foods that only provide empty calories out of your diet as you can, and replace them with flavonoid-rich foods like vegetables, fruit, cacao and tea. Researchers at the University of Western Australia did a small epidemiological study and discovered that a high-flavonoid diet dramatically reduces mortality risk.
Study
The researchers followed 1063 women, all of whom were older than 75, for a period of five years. The women completed questionnaires about their diet, and the researchers used these to calculate the amount of flavonoids the women consumed.
The researchers divided the women into three equal-sized groups on the basis of their flavonoid consumption. The 'low' group consumed less than 547 mg flavonoids daily; the 'moderate' group consumed 547-813 mg flavonoids daily; and the 'high' group consumed more than 813 mg flavonoids daily.
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Isoflavones are found in, among other things, legumes and especially in soya. The structural formula of isoflavone is shown here.
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Anthocyanidins are found in, among other things, berries. American researchers have found particularly high concentrations in gooseberries. [J Agric Food Chem. 2006 May 31;54(11):4069-75.] The structural formula of anthocyanidin is shown here.
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Flavanones are found in, among other things, citrus fruits such as grapefruit, oranges and limes. [Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 19 (2006) S74–S80.] The structural formula of flavanone is shown here.
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Flavones are found in, among other things, apples, onions, celery and tea. [J Am Diet Assoc. 2002 Oct;102(10):1414-20.] The structural formula of flavone is shown here.
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Flavonol |
Flavonoles are found in, among other things, apples, onions, celery and tea. [J Am Diet Assoc. 2002 Oct;102(10):1414-20.] The structural formula of flavonol is shown here.
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Flavanols and proanthocyanidins are found in, among other things, cacao and berries. [J Nutr. 2004 Mar;134(3):613-7.] The structural formulas of flavanol (above) and proanthocyanidins (below) are shown here.
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Study
In the period that the researchers followed the women, 17 women died in the low group, 13 in the moderate group and 5 in the high group. A high flavonoid intake protected against both fatal cardiovascular disease and fatal forms of cancer.
The overall survival chances of the women in the high group were also higher than those of the women in the other groups during the five years that the researchers monitored the women.
Conclusion
When the researchers split their data up according to flavonoid type, they found that the flavanols and flavonols in particular protected against mortality.
This doesn't mean though that the other types of flavonoids have no effect. Flavanols and flavonols are the most common kinds of flavonoids in our food. We consume the highest amounts of these.
Source:
Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 May;101(5):1012-20.
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Polyphenols in food extend life expectancy 08.02.2014
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Longevity
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