Re: Compound in Onion Can Reduce Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Individuals

On Oct 24, 2:16 pm, Dave <djense...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Dolores,

This compound is present in onions, raw or cooked, but the point is
that you probably can't load up on enough onions to make the dent you
might wish in your blood pressure readings. Yes -- eating onions will
be a healthy pursuit, but the drop in blood pressure that these people
saw came because they took quercitin in large quantities via a
supplement. Companies are now learning to isolate these special plant
biochemicals and then you can really start to see the advantages, when
you get up to what will someday be considered a "therapeutic" dosage.
But for that to happen, there will need to be more and larger studies.
Clinical trials to determine just how much of quercitin is good, and
where the break point is (where the dosage turns sour and no extra
effect is noticed). Right now a lot of companies are studying this
compound for inclusion into herbal products for reducing blood
pressure. We'll have to touch on the subject again in six months to
see what's on the market,

Dave

On Oct 24, 2:16 am, dorsy1943 <dtm...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



On Oct 23, 9:02 am, Dave <djense...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

A ndew study shows that Quercitin, the compound most commonly
associated with onions, may reduce blood pressure by an average of
five millimitres of mercury.

This flavonol has not been studied for its anti-hypertension effects
in the past; this group found a daily 730 milligram supplement of
quercitin led to significant reductions in the blood pressure of 22
people with high blood pressure. While this is considered a smaller,
"pilot" scale trial, the news is good because this is just another
benefit for a flavonol that has already been discovered to be
extremely valuable in human consumption. As always, consult your
naturopath or holistic MD for the specifics of Quercitin in your own
personal regimen.

Hypertension is defined as having a systolic and diastolic blood
pressure (BP) greater than 140 and 90 mmHg, affects about 600 million
people worldwide and is associated with over seven million deaths. In
the USA, the hypertension numbers have recently been adjusted. A
person can be considered to be in "pre-hypertension" today with
numbers that were considered normal just a few years ago.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study,
(the best way to manage experimental trials) adds to an ever-growing
body of reported health benefits for quercitin. The flavonol was
previously linked to reduced risk of certain cancers.

Building on science from animal studies reporting a potential
hypotensive (blood pressure lowering) role for the flavonol,
researchers from the University of Utah recruited 19 men and women
with pre-hypertension (average BP 137/86 mmHg) and 22 hypertensives
(average BP 148/96 mmHg). The subjects were randomly assigned to
receive a daily supplement of quercetin (730 mg) or placebo for 28
days.

Lead author Randi Edwards and co-workers report that the hypertensives
receiving the quercitin supplement experienced reductions in systolic
and diastolic BP of seven and five mmHg, respectively, compared to
placebo.

It is important to note that no BP changes were observed in the pre-
hypertensives as a result of these interventions.

"These data are the first to our knowledge to show that quercetin
supplementation reduces blood pressure in hypertensive subjects,"
stated the researchers.

Although no mechanism of action study was performed by the
researchers, they suggested that the flavonoid could limit the
production of angiotensin II, a molecule that constricts blood vessels
(vasoconstrictor) leading to an increase in blood pressure. Further
investigation would be required to confirm this speculation.

Dave

Full text article above extracted fromhttp://shamvswham.blogspot.com/

Is that only raw onions or cooked onions too?
Dolores- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Darn. I would not take any unregulated, non standardized supplement
because time after time, it has been shown that taking one substance
out of the food matrix often causes more harm than good (like beta
carotene and vitamin E). Campbell points this out in the China
Study. I believe he calls it reductionism.
Dolores

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