| Bioflavonoids
The chances are you have never heard of them, even under their
odd alias, vitamin P. Despite the low profile, however, some folks believe
them to be among natures most potent antioxidants.
While
bioflavonoids are sometimes known as vitamin P, they aren’t in fact
vitamins, or minerals for that matter. They’re phytochemicals, or plant
chemicals, which is probably where the ‘P’ comes into it.
Do
we need them? Well,
not in the sense we need oxygen and water. Not in the sense we need
laughter, vegetables, fish and a healthy relationship (in no particular
order) either. They’re often called functional foods, having a value to
us beyond the strictly nutritional. So, no, we don’t need them but many
would argue we’d be better off if we had more of them.
Since
up to 80 per cent of the most common cancers are diet related, and since
bioflavonoids and other phytochemicals are touted as having potent
anti-oxidant effects, the National Cancer Institute in America is
providing plenty of funding to find out whether we should believe the
hype.
But
there are literally tens of thousands of phytochemicals in nature, most of
them in fruit and vegetables. Acting on the promising hype, a long line of
less than objective nutritional supplement and pharmaceutical companies
are trying to get a slice of the action, too.
Where
do you get them? Bioflavonoid
compounds include anthocyanins, catechins, flavanones, flavones and
flavonols. Catechins are the highly concentrated anti-oxidants found in
green tea that are responsible for its widely publicised anti-cancer
effects, while soy products and red clover are full of flavones, which
have been targeted in the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. The
main dietary source of bioflavonoids is the white segment, or ring, of
vegetables and fruit (especially citrus).
One
of the better known preparations is Pycnogenol (a trade name), otherwise
known as oligameric proanthacyanidin complex, or OPC. Grape seed and pine
bark extract, with anti-oxidant properties said to be 50 times more
effective than vitamin E, are at the heart of Pycnogenol, which is claimed
by its developer, French researcher Professor Jack Masquelier, to be the
most potent anti-oxidant available.
What
they (might) do: At
the very least, it seems likely bioflavonoids promote the body’s
absorption of vitamin C, which itself has well known anti-oxidant effects.
Apart from the anti-aging properties central to all anti-oxidants, there
are research results suggesting that bioflavonoids in tea may help to
reduce the risk of heart disease, possibly by dilating the coronary
arteries and preventing the deterioration of artery walls in
atherosclerosis. Then of course there’s the anti-cancer activities
mentioned above and elsewhere.
Because
of the newness of the work into phytochemicals, there are very few hard
and fast answers about their effectiveness in improving health and
delaying the symptoms of ageing. But since adverse effects are rare, the
addition of soy products, green tea and citrus pith to your diet would
seem like a good bet.
AUTHOR:
Dr Michael McCoy
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