New review investigates the effects of quercetin supplementation on lipids, blood pressure, and glucose levels.

Quercetin, a polyphenol, has been shown to have both strong antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory properties. Research has demonstrated that quercetin supplementation has anti-hypertensive, anticoagulant, and anti-hyperglycemic properties, however, studies in humans have shown mixed results.

According to a review published January 6^th in Nutrition Reviews, researchers investigated the effects of quercetin supplementation on lipids, blood pressure, and glucose levels.

 This review included 17 randomized controlled, cross-over, or parallel design studies including 896 individuals who consumed quercetin or a standardized quercetin-enriched extract on cardiovascular biomarkers including fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, insulin, and HOMA-IR. These studies included anywhere from 10 to 93 participants over a duration from two to twelve weeks and dosing ranged from 100 mg to 1000 mg per day.

 As a result, quercetin significantly lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Quercetin has effects on the autonomic nervous system having a parasympathetic effect, increases vascular relaxation, and reducing the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme. In addition, significant changes were seen in HDL and triglycerides in individuals who consumed quercetin for 8 weeks or more. Quercetin did not demonstrate statistically significant effects on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, or glucose concentrations.

These results show that quercetin supplementation can have positive effects on blood pressure and improvements in plasma lipid profiles. Other nutrients to consider include delta and gamma tocotrienols, fish oil, magnesium, and taurine.

Previous research has also demonstrated improvements of metabolic features of PCOS by upregulating adiponectin and Amp-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Adiponectin signaling regulates fatty acid metabolism and glucose by activation of AMPK.

Quercetin supplementation enhanced AMPK level by 12.3% compared with the placebo group.

 By Michael Jurgelewicz, DC, DACBN, DCBCN, CNSSource: Huang H, Liao D, et al. Effect of quercetin supplementation on plasma lipid profiles, blood pressure, and glucose levels: a systemic review and meta-analysis. Nutr Rev. 2020 Jan 6.

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