Use of certain flavonoids may reduce death risk due to CVD and cancer: Study

Iran: Habitual dietary intake of certain flavonoids can reduce all-cause mortality and deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), suggests a recent study published in the Nutrition Journal. Some rich sources of flavonoids include dark chocolate, green tea, and red wine.

Flavonoids are an important subgroup of polyphenols that substantially impacts different health aspects. Owing to their abundance in the diet and potential health effects they have attracted considerable attention during the recent decades. Over the past two decades, a large number of studies have determined the effects of various flavonoids (flavonols, flavones, and isoflavones) or their rich sources (such as green tea, dark chocolate, and red wine) in diseases including cancer and CVD. The results have shown a protective role of flavonoids against these diseases. However, there is a lack of data on the association of total flavonoid intake or their subclasses with all-cause mortality or cause-specific mortality. 

Dietary flavonoids are divided into 6 main subclasses 1) flavanols or flavan-3-ols such as catechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin; 2) anthocyanins such as cyanidin, pelargonidin, delphinidin, peonidin; 3) flavanones such as hesperetin, naringenin; 4) flavonols such as quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin; 5) flavones such as apigenin, luteolin; and 6) isoflavones such as daidzein, genistein. Also, there are some subsidiary classes such as dihydrochalcones and chalcones (e.g. phloridzin, arbutin, phloretin, and chalconaringenin). Theses subclasses vary in their bioavailability and biological efficacy.