MORE FLAVONOL, LESS ALZHEIMER’S
Check out this article in MedPage Today linking higher consumption of flavonols (chemicals found in some plants) to a lowered risk of Alzheimer’s dementia.
“After adjusting for genetic, demographic, and lifestyle factors, people who consumed the highest dietary intake of flavonols were 48% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s dementia than people with the least intake, reported Thomas Holland, MD, of Rush University in Chicago, and colleagues, in Neurology.”
MedPage Today: More Flavonal, Less Alzheimer’s
“This research lends a further understanding of the contents of the foods we eat,” Holland said. “The bioactives in foods — which from our research would be specifically flavonols found in kale, spinach, tomatoes, tea, olive oil, apples, pears, and over 20 other foods — have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that have the potential to protect against cellular damage due to oxidative stress and sustained inflammation,” he told MedPage Today.”
“This work complements other studies that show fruit and vegetables support brain health, observed Robert Friedland, MD, of the University of Louisville, who wasn’t involved with the study.
“The presence of flavonols in plants has developed through evolution because of their ability to protect the plant against damaging rays from the sun,” he told MedPage Today. “In humans, flavonols similarly protect us from free radicals, products of oxidative metabolism. Flavonol intake also may be beneficial through influence on the partner microorganisms we have in the gut, the microbiota.”
“Fruit and vegetables are good sources of dietary fiber, which is metabolized by the microbiota, producing short chain fatty acids, enhancing colonic health and serving to produce circulating immune cells which protect the brain from the inflammatory components of neurodegenerative diseases,” Friedland continued. “A remarkable array of experimental data has now amply demonstrated the importance of the microbiota in age-related brain diseases.”
If you or someone you know would like to get on the road to healthier eating and learn how powerful food as medicine can be, please contact us today. We have a fantastic team including a registered dietitian, nurse practitioner, and behavioral counselor here to help support the use of whole foods in your diet, investigate laboratory abnormalities, and help you develop lifelong habits for improving your health and optimizing the state of your gut microbiome. Call us at 224.407.4400 or visit our website www.compgihealth.com to request an appointment with any of our providers to get started! TELEMEDICINE visits are available now!