nawchem
Tue, Jul-11-06, 14:43
Real Age, Originally published on 07/05/2006.
Whether you add them to soups, relish dishes, sandwiches, or salads, improving the health of your arteries may be as simple as munching on these flavor boosters. People who eat more flavonoid-rich veggies like these cut their risk of hardening of the arteries -- especially in the legs -- in half.
The health-fuel powering these foods comes from flavonoids -- naturally occurring plant compounds that are widely known for their disease-fighting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Yellow onions, parsley, and celery are loaded with flavonoids, though there are other good sources: kale, leeks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and blueberries. And most fruits and veggies, as well as tea and red wine, have at least a smattering of them. Flavonoids are potent defenders against peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), which narrows and hardens arteries in the legs and arms, reducing blood flow.
Tip References: Flavonoid classes and risk of peripheral arterial occlusive disease: a case-control study in Greece. Lagiou, P., Lagiou, A., Skalkidis, Y., Katsouyanni, K., Petridou, E., Trichopoulos, D., European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006 Feb;60(2):214-219.
Polyphenols: food sources and bioavailability. Manach, C., Scalbert, A., Morand, C., Remesy, C., Jimenez, L., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2004;79(5):727-747.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2006 Feb;60(2):214-9. Related Articles, Links
Flavonoid classes and risk of peripheral arterial occlusive disease: a case-control study in Greece.
Lagiou P, Samoli E, Lagiou A, Skalkidis Y, Katsouyanni K, Petridou E, Trichopoulos D.
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece. pdlagiou~med.uoa.gr
OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between specific flavonoid classes and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), an important manifestation of atherosclerosis. DESIGN: Using data from a case-control study conducted in Greece in 1980 on the nutritional epidemiology of PAOD, we have exploited recently published databases on the content of foods in specific flavonoid classes to assess the relation between intake of these compounds and PAOD. SETTING: A major teaching hospital in Athens, Greece. SUBJECTS: Cases were 100 patients with PAOD and controls 100 patients with minor surgical conditions admitted to the same hospital. INTERVENTIONS: No interventions. All cases and controls were interviewed in the hospital wards, and a 110-food item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire was administered by the same interviewer. RESULTS: Flavonols, flavones and perhaps flavan-3-ols were inversely associated with PAOD risk, the odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) for increments equal to the corresponding standard deviations being 0.41 (0.20-0.86), 0.56 (0.32-0.96) and 0.53 (0.26-1.05), respectively. Total flavonoids were also significantly inversely associated with PAOD. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these results, the biological properties of flavonoids and evidence concerning their relation to other manifestations of atherosclerosis, we conclude that dietary intake of specific classes of flavonoids, as well as total flavonoids, may have a protective effect against PAOD. SPONSORSHIP: This study was partially supported by a grant to Harvard University by the Samourkas Foundation.
Full article on 2nd reference is here: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/5/727
Whether you add them to soups, relish dishes, sandwiches, or salads, improving the health of your arteries may be as simple as munching on these flavor boosters. People who eat more flavonoid-rich veggies like these cut their risk of hardening of the arteries -- especially in the legs -- in half.
The health-fuel powering these foods comes from flavonoids -- naturally occurring plant compounds that are widely known for their disease-fighting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Yellow onions, parsley, and celery are loaded with flavonoids, though there are other good sources: kale, leeks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and blueberries. And most fruits and veggies, as well as tea and red wine, have at least a smattering of them. Flavonoids are potent defenders against peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), which narrows and hardens arteries in the legs and arms, reducing blood flow.
Tip References: Flavonoid classes and risk of peripheral arterial occlusive disease: a case-control study in Greece. Lagiou, P., Lagiou, A., Skalkidis, Y., Katsouyanni, K., Petridou, E., Trichopoulos, D., European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006 Feb;60(2):214-219.
Polyphenols: food sources and bioavailability. Manach, C., Scalbert, A., Morand, C., Remesy, C., Jimenez, L., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2004;79(5):727-747.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2006 Feb;60(2):214-9. Related Articles, Links
Flavonoid classes and risk of peripheral arterial occlusive disease: a case-control study in Greece.
Lagiou P, Samoli E, Lagiou A, Skalkidis Y, Katsouyanni K, Petridou E, Trichopoulos D.
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece. pdlagiou~med.uoa.gr
OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between specific flavonoid classes and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), an important manifestation of atherosclerosis. DESIGN: Using data from a case-control study conducted in Greece in 1980 on the nutritional epidemiology of PAOD, we have exploited recently published databases on the content of foods in specific flavonoid classes to assess the relation between intake of these compounds and PAOD. SETTING: A major teaching hospital in Athens, Greece. SUBJECTS: Cases were 100 patients with PAOD and controls 100 patients with minor surgical conditions admitted to the same hospital. INTERVENTIONS: No interventions. All cases and controls were interviewed in the hospital wards, and a 110-food item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire was administered by the same interviewer. RESULTS: Flavonols, flavones and perhaps flavan-3-ols were inversely associated with PAOD risk, the odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) for increments equal to the corresponding standard deviations being 0.41 (0.20-0.86), 0.56 (0.32-0.96) and 0.53 (0.26-1.05), respectively. Total flavonoids were also significantly inversely associated with PAOD. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these results, the biological properties of flavonoids and evidence concerning their relation to other manifestations of atherosclerosis, we conclude that dietary intake of specific classes of flavonoids, as well as total flavonoids, may have a protective effect against PAOD. SPONSORSHIP: This study was partially supported by a grant to Harvard University by the Samourkas Foundation.
Full article on 2nd reference is here: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/5/727