Make sure you consume enough fruit and veggies each day for a variety of healthy reasons.
They not only keep your gut healthy and include many of the essential vitamins and minerals our bodies require to function at their best, but they may also aid in maintaining a healthy weight.
However, a class of chemicals known as flavanols may make certain plant diets healthier than others.
A new study revealed that people who consume a diet rich in foods containing flavonolds may have improved memory compared to those who do not.
A prior study discovered that those with low flavanol consumption had a increased chance of developing heart disease.
Overall, there is strong proof that getting enough flavanols is good for your health.
Although studies have shown that flavanols offer a variety of health advantages, it’s crucial for consumers to understand that not all foods high in flavanols have the same quantity of flavanols, meaning some may have a more positive impact on health than others.
Flavanols may be found in a wide variety of plants, including apples, plums, berries and even some drinks such as tea.
Flavanols are divided into two major classes and several subgroups. Additionally, the flavanol combinations found in each plant will vary.
Each of these substances has a unique structure, and each has a unique impact on the body.
For instance, a cup of tea and a serving of blueberries may both have the same amount of flavanols in total, but they’re composed of entirely distinct forms of flavanols, which may have quite different benefits.
Therefore, it’s crucial to select a source that offers a wide variety of various kinds while researching the health impacts of flavanols.
The two primary forms of flavanols are present in cocoa.
Additionally, it enables scientists to determine which other foods are most likely to be advantageous depending on how similar the substances they contain are to cocoa flavanols.
Since foods like chocolate, berries, and tea include a variety of flavanols, it is still unknown which specific chemicals are responsible for the health benefits.
However, several studies have connected the particular flavanol epicatechin with improved vascular health.
Another thing to be aware of is that even if a food includes flavanols, its concentration may be lower than that of other foods.
We created a test that measures flavanol consumption using urine a few years ago to better understand how flavanol intake influences health.
The test determines if someone has consumed a lot, a little, or no flavanols at all depending on how the body breaks down flavanols.
The test showed that individuals who consumed more flavanols had lower blood pressure as well as better memory than those who consumed less of them.
By testing urine samples, they also learned how many different foods high in flavanols an individual needs to eat in order to get about 500 mg of flavanols per day, which is roughly the quantity utilized in trials.
The research determined that 500mg of flavanols may be obtained every day from just two and a half cups of green tea, for instance.
However, you would need to eat a lot of each fruit and vegetable to reach the necessary quantity of flavanols if you tried to get them all from a single kind of produce.
For instance, 500mg of flavanols would need you to eat roughly 15 cups of raspberries alone.
The easiest method to ensure that you consume enough flavanols each day is to mix up your fruit and vegetable intake.
Despite what some headlines may suggest, chocolate (particularly dark chocolate) is a relatively poor source of flavanols, even if the flavanols utilized in many experiments were derived from cocoa.
This is because processing causes these flavanols to decrease.
Though there is still a lot we don’t understand about flavanols, including why they affect so many different areas of our health, it is evident from the studies that they are likely good for memory and the heart.
