You may not have heard of them, but I bet you are eating them. Flavonoids are polyphenols, found in plant foods like berries, tea and citrus fruit that have been associated with so many health benefits.
Just last week, research from Queen’s University Belfast hit the headlines with the news that a diet rich in flavonoids may help reduce risk of dementia and these same ingredients have been linked with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Flavonoids have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and are some of the key ingredients we are encouraged to have in abundance in our diet for a healthy balance of bacteria in our gut microbiome. They give plant foods their colourful pigments, vibrant flavours and varied aromas, so the more variety of tasty, aromatic and colourful plant foods we have in our diet, the better.
The latest research at Queen’s looked at the link between diets high in flavonoids and the risk for developing dementia. Using data from the UK Biobank, researched compared the dietary input of over 120,000 people aged between 40 and 70.
They found that people who consumed an additional six servings of flavonoid-rich foods a day had a 28% reduced risk of developing dementia.
The foods with the strongest associated included tea (green and black), berries and red wine, and the effects seemed to be most apparent in people who had a high genetic risk of dementia or who suffered from depression.
A diet rich in flavonoids may help reduce risk of dementia and these same ingredients have been linked with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes
With an ageing population, anything that can help reduce our risk of developing this disease has got to be welcomed. There are around one million people in the UK living with dementia and it is estimated that this will rise to around 1.4 million people by 2040.
It is thought that there are a variety of ways that a diet rich in flavonoids can help our cognitive function and brain health, including:
- Helping to reduce inflammation in the brain – this is associated with increased risk of depression as well as cognitive decline.
- Improved circulation and blood flow to the brain.
- Positive effects on the gut-brain axis.
In other studies, flavonoids have been shown to help manage blood pressure and depression – both of which are risk factors for dementia.
Loading your diet with flavonoid-rich foods not only does your health good, but they are some of the tastiest, most colourful foods in our diet, so they are good to eat too.
There are different types of flavonoids, and this study found that anthocyanin, flavan-3-ol and flavone type had the strongest association with reduced risk of dementia. Tea, red wine, and berries are among best sources of these flavonoids – foods most of us enjoy, I’d say.
Of course, this is not a licence to go overboard on red wine... Less is more and current advice tells us to reduce alcohol as much as possible, so don’t start drinking red wine if you don’t have it in your diet already, and if you are a red wine drinker, keep your intake to a maximum of one small glass a couple of times a week.
Here are some ideas of how you could add six portions of flavonoid-rich foods to your diet every day:
- Berries – fresh or frozen, with breakfast, in smoothies or as a little snack with natural yoghurt.
- Get the kettle on and drink green or black tea.
- An apple a day.
- Citrus fruit – especially oranges and grapefruit and their zest.
- Eat more peppers.
- Add onions to everything.
- Eat chocolate every day – just make sure it contains a minimum of 70% cocoa.
