Health Hotline Magazine | April 2022

AN ANTI-AGING GURU Another reason to add quercetin to your supplement routine is that it is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It not only protects the body from free-radical damage, it also quenches chronic, low-grade inflammation, which is becoming increasingly recognized as a significant contributor to accelerated aging. Low-grade inflammation contributes to the development of the common chronic diseases and conditions that account for more than 50 percent of all deaths in the world today. Ischemic heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, non- alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions are all inflammation-related diseases. With quercetin’s natural anti-inflammatory e ects, it may come as no surprise that it plays a direct role in reducing C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. CRP is a common way to measure both acute and chronic inflammation; when CRP levels remain high over an extended period, it can be an indicator of underlying disease. A 2017 meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials found that quercetin supplementation at doses greater than 500 mg/day, varying in length between 6 and 10 weeks, resulted in a “significant reduction in circulating CRP levels.”

A POTENT ANTIVIRAL Most of us are familiar with the importance of vitamins C and D and zinc for immune health. In addition to these core supplements, quercetin is another valuable supplement to add to your immunity toolkit because it displays an impressive range of antiviral properties, including inhibiting virus entry, virus replication, and virus protein assembly. This helps us fight upper respiratory infections like the common cold, as well as influenza. Quercetin also alleviates infection- related symptoms through its ability to reduce the release of inflammatory cytokines, proteins released by certain immune cells as part of the immune response. In one study, participants 40 and older had a 36 percent reduction in upper respiratory infection severity and a 31 percent reduction in total sick days when taking 1,000 mg of quercetin, plus 1,000 mg of vitamin C and 40 mg of niacin, for 12 weeks, compared to the placebo group. Quercetin also benefits the immune health of athletes. Competitive athletes can be more susceptible to respiratory infections as over- exercising can strain the immune system. In one study, participants who supplemented with 1,000 mg/day of quercetin for three weeks before, during, and two weeks after a three-day period of three hours of cycling, had a lower incidence of upper respiratory infections compared to the placebo group. There are also preliminary studies in South Korea and China that have pointed to quercetin’s potential for inhibiting viral replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In a review entitled, “Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Patients Infected with 2019-New Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2),” researchers documented several key findings, noting quercetin’s potential e ects as a treatment against coronaviruses. Specifically, quercetin had potent anti-SARS-CoV e ects by “inhibition of viral cellular entry, adsorption, and penetration.”

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