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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Muscadine Grapes, Allergies, Flus and Respiratory Issues


" Allergies in the spring time in NC used to send me to the emergency room - have barely had a sniffle for 3 years now and my blood pressure has gone back to normal levels."
" I take the muscadine every day this spring and I have NO allergy symptoms anymore!"  

" This is the first holiday season I have not been sick in YEARS" ( - Dec 2012)


It is stories like these that makes me don my research hat and start searching for clues...


Here are a few things I found...


Quercetin is one of the 100+ powerful antioxidants found in the muscadine grape seeds, and altho it is not as commonly talked about as resveratrol and some of the other antioxidants, it plays a powerful role in helping our bodies in more ways than I KNEW, until I started doing some research - what I found was absolutely amazing.




First of all, let's define what this intriguing word means.


Definition of Quercetin = a yellow crystalline pigment present in plants, used as a food supplement to reduce allergic responses or boost immunity


What Does Quercetin Do?


According to the Antioxidants.org website, Quercetin is a flavonoid ( a plant based component of powerful antioxidants) , helping the body in various ways, such as:

  • Helping to rid the body of damaging free radical molecules.
  • Inhibiting the formation of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
  • Inhibits various enzymes that cause inflammation in the body.




Quercetin for allergies?

According to the Better Nutrition Magazine:



Quercetin works as an antihistamine without the side effects usually associated with synthetic hay fever relievers. It also calms immune cells, preventing or reducing their release of histamines—the substances that cause allergy symptoms.
Numerous studies have investigated and validated these properties of the nutrient, which, in addition to relieving allergies, can also help treat asthma.
But beyond its antihistamine activity, quercetin also has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. “




Researchers in both Brazil and Korea protected animals from fatal allergic reactions to common food allergens by pre-treating them with quercetin in oral or inhaled forms!




Quercetin for Energy?




Some researchers tested the effect of Quercetin on some college students who weren't particulary active, as far as exercise. ( They were probably too busy studying!)



(When researchers do what they call a 'blind placebo test', they give ALL the participants pills to swallow and nobody knows if they are taking the actual stuff, or if they are simply taking a water pill... this way they can get more acurate results from the test.)


Anyways, they discovered that by adding this antioxidant to their daily diet for 7 days, compared to their colleagues who were on the placebo, it increased their endurance levels by about 13% and their oxygen utilization (VO2 max), a measure of cardiovascular fitness, by 3.9 percent...



muscadine grape seeds health benefits
So if you are going to college, a teacher or anyone that needs to use their brain a lot, it might not be a bad idea to add Quercetin to your daily regime. :)



Here is an interesting study done quercetin and rats....and published on PubMed which is a place that most of us can't understand, ( I think it is a conspiracy to keep us in the dark!) but if you kinda dig through all the medical gobbledygook, here is what it seems to be saying:



The rats that got the quercetin and were put on treadmills tested quite a bit higher for endurance and fatigue level... and they conclude the study with these words: These benefits of querectin on fitness without exercise training may have important implications for enhancement of athletic and military performance and may also extend to prevention and/or treatment of chronic diseases.




Quercetin for Cancer:




Here is what the Better Nutrition article also says about cancer benefits of Quercetin:


Research at the University of California, Los Angeles, published in Cancer, found that quercetin reduces risk of lung cancer among smokers and has general anticancer properties. And, in a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers found that quercetin can significantly reduce risk for colon cancer.



And according to an article in the Life Extension magazine:  Researchers have demonstrated quercetin’s ability to prevent or slow tumor development in experiments involving cancers of the brain, liver, colon, and other tissues...




In conclusion if you follow some of the reference links in this article, you will find that taking a natural, healthy source of quercetin can do any or all of the following for you:








The Life Extension article brings everything to a very neat and tidy summary with these words:




We now understand that it can fundamentally affect disease processes as different as obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and asthma, through its powerful antioxidant effects that reduce inflammation throughout the body. Even more astonishingly, it is now clear that quercetin may have a direct and independent effect on prolonging life itself, through mechanisms that are becoming less mysterious as scientists focus their attention deep inside cellular processes.




So How does one GET Quercetin


You can actually get some form of quercetin from a variety of fruits and veggies. In fact, here is a quercetin food chart. I personally would not recommend taking an over the counter form of processed or capsulated forms of quercetin unless you know what's all in the capsules.


For instance, the NOW brand of quercetinhas rice flour listed as the main ingredient in it's 'quercetin capsules'! I guess I don't understand why they do that, but there are 100% natural forms of quercetin you can take where you know EXACTLY what is in each capsule and what is going into your body.



According to many scientists and Drs,  the muscadine grapes are among the highest known forms of naturally occuring quercetin... plus all the OTHER benefits of resveratrol, ellagic acids, just to name a few that are also in the muscadines.

( Here is the HIGH QUALITY muscadine products that I have used for over 6 years)



Until next time ~ to your health and ours!
" The Crazy Pearl Lady :)"


  Disclaimer: Consult your health care professional about any serious disease or injury. Do not attempt to self-diagnose or prescribe any natural substance as a substitute for professional medical assistance. The information here is provided for better understanding of holistic health.

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