Top 6 Quercetin Benefits That'll Transform Your Health
Do you feel like your immune and respiratory system needs some extra love? Well, look no further than the flavonoid quercetin. Quercetin is a naturally occurring antioxidant commonly found in fruits and vegetables, including dark berries, grapes, and dark leafy greens! Red wine is also known to have notable amounts of quercetin.
This potent antioxidant not only boosts your immune system and supports respiratory health, but it can help with your body's natural response to allergens, histamines, and inflammation. Let's dive into the top six quercetin benefits that you need to know.
Benefits of Quercetin
1. Supports Normal Respiratory Health
When your respiratory system is irritated, redness and swelling can result from the release of histamines. Quercetin may be your newest go-to supplement! It’s shown to have an antihistamine effect. Quercetin influences intracellular enzymes and may help inhibit histamine release.[1] This can often provide relief for watery eyes, runny nose, and swelling in the face. Quercetin may even help with photosensitivity — extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and other light sources.[2]
2. Boosts Heart Health
Keeping your heart healthy starts with eating nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables that contain high levels of flavonoids. Flavonoids compounds are found naturally in many fruits and vegetables and are high in antioxidants! It’s shown that the consumption of flavonoids, especially quercetin, offers a two-fold in promoting overall cardiovascular health. First, it encourages blood flow.[3]Secondly, quercetin’s antioxidant action protects against LDL cholesterol oxidation. This may be beneficial because oxidation causes LDL cholesterol to stick to artery walls.[4]
3. Promotes Balanced Blood Pressure
Did you know nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure? Blood pressure can be a complex mix of mechanisms inside your body, working together harmoniously. In addition to supporting cardiovascular health, quercetin naturally promotes balanced blood pressure, which is vital to your overall health. Quercetin supplementation has been researched and shown to stabilize systolic, diastolic, and average arterial pressure.[5]
4. Offers Protection Against Stress
When your body is stressed, it produces cortisol — aka the stress hormone. Cortisol is a hormone that creates a "fight or flight" response. Many situations can elevate cortisol levels — including lack of sleep and busy lifestyles. Although this is normal, when your stress levels are high and ongoing, cortisol can damage muscle tissue, leading to protein breakdown in the body. Quercetin can fight these effects during extended stress as it suppresses the enzyme necessary for cortisol release.[6]
5. May Benefit Upper Respiratory Conditions
While more research is needed, there are promising results that quercetin may offer a bronchial dilating effect. Quercetin has been shown to inhibit an enzyme that breaks down signaling proteins, which produce swelling and airway narrowing. Quercetin causes a relaxation of the airway smooth muscle, suggesting it may offer therapeutic solutions for people suffering from upper respiratory conditions.[7]
6. Offers Nutritional Support for Overall Health
Listen, putting good nutrition into your body is one of the best measures you can take to encourage good health. It’s not a guarantee, and some people will still get sick, but it’s a good foundation and fundamental path. Why should quercetin be part of your approach? Because research has shown that people who consume more fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of some diseases. Since quercetin is the most abundant dietary flavonoid, it’s a great option to include in your diet.[8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
Supplementing With Quercetin
Finding the right quercetin supplement can be tricky. Many companies use synthetic ingredients that aren’t absorbable and can’t offer the same level of protection your body needs. If you’re looking for a quercetin supplement, I suggest our latest Plant-Based Quercetin. It’s an enhanced formula that contains phytosome technology crafted using sunflower lecithin that delivers active quercetin into cells to support the body’s natural response to allergens and inflammation. You’ll get the most out of each capsule because our advanced technology increases your body’s ability to absorb active quercetin up to 20 times higher than standard quercetin.
References (12)
- Chirumbolo S. The role of quercetin, flavonols and flavones in modulating inflammatory cell function. Inflamm Allergy Drug Targets. 2010 Sep;9(4):263-85.
- Weng Z, Zhang B, Asadi S, Sismanopoulos N, Butcher A, Fu X, Katsarou-Katsari A, Antoniou C, Theoharides TC. Quercetin is more effective than cromolyn in blocking human mast cell cytokine release and inhibits contact dermatitis and photosensitivity in humans. PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33805. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033805. Epub 2012 Mar 28.
- Perez-Vizcaino F, Duarte J. Flavonols and cardiovascular disease. Mol Aspects Med. 2010 Dec;31(6):478-94. doi: 10.1016/j.mam.2010.09.002. Epub 2010 Sep 15.
- Egert S, Bosy-Westphal A, Seiberl J, Kürbitz C, Settler U, Plachta-Danielzik S, Wagner AE, Frank J, Schrezenmeir J, Rimbach G, Wolffram S, Müller MJ. Quercetin reduces systolic blood pressure and plasma oxidised low-density lipoprotein concentrations in overweight subjects with a high-cardiovascular disease risk phenotype: a double-blinded, placebocontrolled cross-over study. Br J Nutr. 2009 Oct;102(7):1065-74. doi: 10.1017/S0007114509359127. Epub 2009 Apr 30.
- Edwards RL, Lyon T, Litwin SE, Rabovsky A, Symons JD, Jalili T. Quercetin reduces blood pressure in hypertensive subjects. J Nutr. 2007 Nov;137(11):2405-11.
- Cheng LC, Li LA. Flavonoids exhibit diverse effects on CYP11B1 expression and cortisol synthesis. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2012 Feb 1;258(3):343-50. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2011.11.017. Epub 2011 Dec 8.
- Townsend EA, Emala CW Sr. Quercetin acutely relaxes airway smooth muscle and potentiates-agonist induced relaxation via dual phosphodiesterase inhibition of PLC and PDE4. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2013 Jul 19.
- Long Q, Xiel Y, Huang Y, Wu Q, Zhang H, Xiong S, Liu Y, Chen L, Wei Y, Zhao X, Gong C. Induction of apoptosis and inhibition of angiogenesis by PEGylated liposomal quercetin in both cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancers. J Biomed Nanotechnol. 2013 Jun;9(6):965-75.
- Wang G, Song L, Wang H, Xing N. Quercetin synergizes with 2-methoxyestradiol inhibiting cell growth and inducing apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. Oncol Rep. 2013 Jul;30(1):357-63. doi: 10.3892/or.2013.2469. Epub 2013 May 15.
- Kim H, Seo EM, Sharma AR, Ganbold B, Park J, Sharma G, Kang YH, Song DK, Lee SS, Nam JS. Regulation of Wnt signaling activity for growth suppression induced by quercetin in 4T1 murine mammary cancer cells. Int J Oncol. 2013 Oct;43(4):1319-25. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2013.2036. Epub 2013 Jul 23.
- Del Follo-Martinez A, Banerjee N, Li X, Safe S, Mertens-Talcott S. Resveratrol and quercetin in combination have anticancer activity in colon cancer cells and repress oncogenic microRNA-27a. Nutr Cancer. 2013;65(3):494-504. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2012.725194.
- Hu Y, Wang S, Wu X, Zhang J, Chen R, Chen M, Wang Y. Chinese herbal medicine-derived compounds for cancer therapy: A focus on hepatocellular carcinoma. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 Aug 1. pii: S0378-8741(13)00531-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.07.030.
†Results may vary. Information and statements made are for education purposes and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor. If you have a severe medical condition or health concern, see your physician.
Dr. Edward Group, DC
FOUNDER | HEALER | ADVOCATEDr. Group, DC is a healer and alternative health advocate, and an industry leader and innovator in the field of natural health who is dedicated to helping others. He is a registered doctor of chiropractic (DC), a naturopathic practitioner (NP), and proud alum of Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management. Dr. Group, DC is the founder of Global Healing – a mission and vision he has shared through best-selling books and frequent media appearances. He aims to spread his message of positivity, hope, and wellness throughout the world.
