Flavonoid Intake May Lower Risk of Heart Disease

Bran, apples, pears, red wine, grapefruit, strawberries and chocolate were among the flavonoid-rich foods researchers recently linked to a significantly reduced risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD). The study, published in the March issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007; 85:895-909), used flavonoid food composition data from three USDA databases to estimate dietary flavonoid intake and evaluate the association between flavonoid intake and mortality.

Study participants included 34, 489 postmenopausal women in the Iowa Women's Health Study who did not have CVD. Researchers looked at their total flavonoid intake, the types of flavonoids they were consuming and what foods were contributing to their intake. They then looked at those women who consumed the most flavonoids and assessed how this affected their risk of developing heart disease, as compared to women who did not get significant flavonoid content in their diet. The results showed that certain flavonoids from dietary sources have the potential to lower the risk of heart disease by up to 22%.

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