The Health Benefits Of Flavonoids As Anti-Oxidants

Flavonoids are highly beneficial anti-oxidant compounds found in many fruits and vegetables, as well as tea, red wine and even beer, and it's now well established that a plentiful intake of anti-oxidants through foods, drinks and supplements is vital for optimal human health.

Anti-oxidants operate to neutralise the activity of so-called "free radicals"; compounds produced in the body as by-products of normal biochemical reactions, but which may nevertheless be highly damaging as they produce oxidative reactions damaging to cell structures. Ultimately this damage may contribute to the development of degenerative diseases characteristic of ageing, including cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's Alzheimer's and even some cancers.

The best known anti-oxidant nutrients are vitamins C and E, although these can only function properly when supported by adequate supplies of a wide variety of micro-nutrients, which include many of the flavonoids found in common fruits and vegetables. These compounds may therefore be regarded as important elements in the body's anti-oxidant defences, but many of the more than 4,000 flavonoids identified have also been hailed for their beneficial effects on the immune system and anti-inflammatory properties.

From the point of view of incorporating flavonoids into a daily health regime, the good thing is the ease with which this can be achieved. Flavonoids are very widely found in fruits, vegetables, and even drinks normally regarded, for other reasons, as unhealthy. So even a diet ordinarily well provided with common fruits and vegetables may provide anything up to 800mg of various flavonoids.

Authoritative research has indicated that this level of flavonoid consumption may help protect against coronary heart disease and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), an important precursor of both heart disease and stroke. These remain two of the major causes of premature mortality and disability in the Western world, and to this extent the UK government and health advisors' frequent advice to consume five servings of fruit and vegetables each day is well founded.