Orange Juice Flavonoids
Published July 19th, 2007
Flavonoids suppress destructive oxygen free radicals — also known as reactive oxygen species, or ROS. An overabundance of free radicals can damage all components of the cell, including proteins, fats and DNA, contributing to the development of many chronic diseases, including heart disease.
A study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo showed a significant increase in ROS within 2 hours in samples from people who drank a glucose liquid, but not in those who drank fructose, orange juice or water.
“We were intrigued by the fact that there was no increase in ROS or inflammation following orange juice consumption, even though its glucose concentration was the same as in participants in the glucose group,” said Paresh Dandona, M.D., Ph.D., senior author on the study. “This raised the question of what in the juice was responsible for suppressing ROS generation: flavonoids and vitamin C or fructose?”
An additional round of test on the samples showed that neither fructose nor vitamin C suppressed the oxygen free radicals. However the two types of flavonoids in orange juice — hesperetin and naringenin — inhibited ROS generation by 52 percent and 77 percent, respectively.
“Our data are relevant to patients with diabetes,” said Dandona, “because stress from ROS and inflammation are increased significantly in this population and may contribute to development of atherosclerosis. Clearly the choice of foods that either don’t increase or actually decrease oxidative and inflammatory stress is important.
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