One of the key factors to enjoy good health and physical condition is to eat a balanced diet that provides all the necessary nutrients and prioritize the consumption of foods with beneficial properties that have been proven by science. A new study has now found that flavonols –a subtype of flavonoidswhich are natural compounds found in fruits and vegetables – can help reduce the chances that older adults will develop fragility.
The results of the research have been published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and have shown that apples and blackberries They are rich in a type of flavonoid called quercetinwhich is especially important for prevent frailtywhich affects around 10% of those over 65 years of age, according to the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG) and is associated with a greater risk of falls, fractures, loss of mobility, disability, hospital admissions or in social-health centers, and even premature death.
Researchers have found that a high consumption of these fruits would help reduce the risk of developing frailty, and suggest that the Anglo-Saxon proverb that says “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” ”), you might be right. “Our findings suggest that for every 10 mg increase in daily intake of flanovoles, the odds of frailty were reduced by 20%. People can easily consume 10 mg of flavonols per day, since an average-sized apple contains 10 mg of flavonols,” they state.
Dietary Strategies to Help Prevent Frailty
For the study, they used data from the Framingham Heart Study-Offspring Cohort to determine the relationship between flavonoid intake and the onset of frailty. Enrolled 1,701 people with a mean age of 58.4 years, none of whom were frail when the study began and who were followed for a 12-year period to assess frailty status (assessed by the Fried frailty phenotype). ). After this time, 13.2% of the participants developed frailty.
“Our findings suggest that for every 10 mg increase in daily intake of flanovoles, the odds of frailty were reduced by 20%.”
No significant association was found between total flavonoid intake and frailty onset. However, intake of flavonols (a type of flavonoid, and in particular quercetin) was associated with lower odds of brittleness. “Although there was no significant association between total flavonoid intake and frailty, higher intake of flavonols (one of the flavonoid subclasses) was associated with lower odds of developing frailty. Specifically, the highest intake of quercetin was the flavonoid that had the greatest association with preventing frailty. These data suggest that there may be particular subclasses of flavonoids that have the greatest potential as a dietary strategy for frailty prevention”, explained co-author Shivani Sahni, along with Courtney L. Millar, both from the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, in the United States.
The authors have suggested that further research should be conducted that focuses on the dietary interventions with flavonols or quercetin for the treatment of frailty, and that future studies include population groups of diverse ethnic and racial origins to confirm the benefits of these nutrients.
Source: www.webconsultas.com
