Food Supplements and Nutraceuticals: Are We Using These Terms Correctly?

QUERCETIN

Food Supplements and Nutraceuticals... Are we using these terms correctly? Although these terms are similar, there is a significant difference between them. I found the simplest definition of these differences from sources at Ankara University: "The term nutraceutical can be briefly defined as food and food components prepared in drug form and utilized for therapeutic purposes. The most important difference between them is that food supplements contain plant parts used as food or compounds derived from them. Nutraceuticals are products in which the active substance obtained from plants used as food is made available in high doses. When taken below daily requirement doses to supplement the minimum amount that must be taken through nutrition for the body to maintain its daily functions, it is called food support; when taken in high amounts above the daily requirement amount to support or repair a body function above normal, the nutraceutical definition is appropriate." Actually, the source of both these terms is "Food." As is known, some foods are called "Superfoods." There are aspects that make them "Super." This is because our body cells are constantly under attack from reactive molecules known as free radicals, which cause oxidative stress damage. Over time, such damage reflects accelerated aging and leads to various health problems such as cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, cancer, and stroke. For this reason, antioxidant supplementation is needed to counteract the negative effects of naturally occurring and environmentally derived free radicals. Antioxidants are compounds that can bind to free radicals and neutralize them. Green tea, cabbage, and blueberries are defined as "Superfoods" due to their high antioxidant content; their common characteristic is that they contain "Quercetin." Quercetin is recognized as an antioxidative compound that, through many research results, provides the higher quality and longer lifespan, heart health, immune system, delayed aging, and much more that we all seek. Quercetin is also the most abundant flavonoid in our diets. It is estimated that an average person consumes 10-100 mg per day through various food sources. Looking deeper into quercetin's functions in our bodies; Inflammation: This is another condition that can be reduced by quercetin's free radical scavenging properties. Free radicals can activate transcription factors that produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are frequently elevated in patients suffering from chronic inflammatory conditions such as prostatitis, persistent body pain, myalgia, insomnia, and gastrointestinal disorders. Additionally, it may be potentially beneficial for cells associated with allergic inflammation. Many studies on allergies have shown that quercetin is effective in stabilizing mast cell membranes and preventing histamine release. It has been proven that the intake of quercetin supplements is effective in reducing sneezing and nose-rubbing movements in allergic rhinitis conditions. Obesity: Quercetin has interesting potential in reducing obesity by blocking adipogenesis (the formation of fat cells) and inducing apoptosis of mature adipocytes (the death of fat cells). Other authors have demonstrated quercetin's role in regulating lipid metabolism. Experiments with mice fed a high-fat diet have shown studies indicating that quercetin reduces obesity, liver weight, and total white adipose tissue amount. Additional studies have been conducted on the effects of quercetin in animals with type 2 diabetes, and it has been observed that animals receiving quercetin showed lower plasma glucose levels compared to the control group and did not experience an increase or decrease in insulin as measured by the homeostasis model. Animals receiving quercetin showed various other improvements, including an increase in plasma adiponectin and HDL-cholesterol, a decrease in plasma total cholesterol and plasma triacylglycerols, and increases in specific liver enzyme activities important in detoxification processes. For humans, quercetin has been shown to help reduce the severity of numbness, shooting pain, and irritation in patients with type 2 diabetes neuropathy. Furthermore, it has been shown that active treatment with quercetin could improve various quality-of-life metrics. Additionally, quercetin is even said to exhibit anticancer properties. In fact, there are studies indicating that this powerful antioxidative compound, especially when combined with the benefits of bromelain, a potent anti-inflammatory enzyme, has considerable positive effects on the human body. A diet rich in quercetin and other antioxidants demonstrates reduced cancer risk. Quercetin appears to have potential cancer-preventive activity and may have a unique anti-proliferative effect on cancer cells, providing an effective contribution to any natural cancer treatment. Studies have shown that quercetin's cancer-protective effects stem from EGFR or estrogen receptor modulation. Flavonoids are considered a safe therapeutic approach to stopping cancer because they may help halt processes related to cell mutation, tumor growth, and symptoms associated with typical cancer treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy, and there are proposals claiming that in the future it could be used as a natural therapy instead of or alongside conventional methods. Currently, most studies on quercetin's effects on cellular function involve animals; therefore, more research is needed to elucidate quercetin's specific effects on human cancer cells. By taking quercetin supplements, pain associated with autoimmune conditions such as arthritis as well as infections like prostate and respiratory tract infections can be reduced. Evidence from some studies shows that in people experiencing bladder pain due to infection (which causes an urgent need to urinate, accompanied by swelling and burning), fewer symptoms are present when taking quercetin supplements. Quercetin is also added to some athlete supplements because it is thought to help increase athletic performance and endurance, probably due to its positive effects on blood flow. Researchers from the Applied Physiology School at Georgia Institute of Technology have published findings that, on average, "Quercetin provided a statistically significant benefit in human endurance exercise capacity (VO2max) and endurance exercise performance." Other studies have also provided evidence that quercetin helps enhance immune function and prevents susceptibility to illnesses that may develop during exposure to fatigue. A study on the subject found evidence that those taking 500 milligrams of quercetin twice daily were protected against the development of exercise-induced respiratory tract infections following heavy exercise periods. As a powerful antioxidant, quercetin has also been shown to have the ability to prevent the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) by reacting itself with free radicals. It is known that LDL oxidation leads to the formation of blood clots and plaque, which cause cardiovascular disease. As of now, the Covid-19 virus has claimed the lives of 4.1 million people. In severely affected Covid-19 patients, acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute lung injury resulting from cytokine storm and severe inflammation are considered the leading causes of death. Many clinical trials are currently ongoing to mitigate this devastating inflammation. Studies have shown that quercetin has an interesting inhibitory effect on inflammatory responses. It has been stated that quercetin's inhibitory effects on IL-17 in particular could double the hope of a positive outcome in Covid-19 treatment. Finally, as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, and NLRP3 inflammatory inhibitor compound, quercetin may be a potential treatment for severe inflammation, the main life-threatening condition in Covid-19 patients. Furthermore, quercetin exhibits a broad range of antiviral properties that can interfere with multiple steps of pathogen virulence (virus entry, virus replication, protein assembly), and it has been noted in a study that these therapeutic effects can be enhanced by the combined use of vitamin C. Due to their serious adverse effects and low cost, the combined administration of these two compounds has been recommended for both the prophylaxis and early treatment of respiratory tract infections, particularly in Covid-19 patients. According to the results of a 30-day prospective, randomized, controlled, open-label, and pilot clinical study involving 152 ambulatory Covid-19 symptomatic patients; when quercetin formulated at a daily dose of 1,000 mg/day (2 daily doses of 500 mg each) was administered as adjuvant treatment together with sunflower lecithin (claimed to be a food-grade delivery system used to improve quercetin's well-known poor oral bioavailability), it was interpreted that all clinical outcomes were statistically improved. With quercetin applications, the need for and duration of hospitalization, the need for non-invasive oxygen therapy, progression to intensive care units, mortality rate, viral load, the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the presence of reactive oxygen species, mucus production, and consequently the resistance of the respiratory tract were reduced. For this reason, supplementation with quercetin-type molecules has been stated to be considered a promising strategy for the treatment of viral respiratory tract infections. So where does quercetin in our daily diet come from? The sources containing quercetin at the highest known levels that we obtain from Superfoods at minimal levels in our daily diet are the Endemic Fava d'anta Tree (Dimorphandra Mollis) and Sophora Japonica Tree. [caption id="attachment_128091" align="aligncenter"] Fava d'anta (Dimorphandra Mollis)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_128093" align="aligncenter"] Sophora Japonica (Japanese Sophora)[/caption] There is a major difference between Fava D'anta and Sophora Japonica sources in their effects on free radicals. A study result showing that fava d'anta's effectiveness is much higher than Sophora Japonica's has been presented graphically as follows. The nutraceutical obtained from these sources is generally presented to the end consumer in powder form filled into hard capsules. Rutin, isoquercetin, and quercetin are obtained at very high purity from the Fava d'anta Tree (Dimorphandra Mollis), which is the primary source for industrial-scale extraction by our Brazilian producer PVP Ltd., which has 60 years of experience.

References SSalim, E. I.; Kaneko, M.; Wanibuchi, H.; Morimura, K.; Fukushima, S. Lack of carcinogenicity of enzymatically modified isoquercitrin in F344/DuCrj rats. Food and Chemical Toxicology, v.42, n.12, p. 1949-1969, 2004. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4808895/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6273625/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26277481/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7063794/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26712783/ https://www.dovepress.com/possible-therapeutic-effects-of-adjuvant-quercetin-supplementation-aga-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJGM https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7318306/ https://journal-inflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12950-021-00268-6 https://covid19.who.int/