Nature has provided us thousands of compounds capable of helping us achieve optimal health, but extracting those health benefits requires a deep understanding of both plant and human physiology. When it comes to selecting the right, biologically preferred form of this natural anti-inflammatory, details that are often overlooked make all the difference. If you are looking for a natural, potent, and safer solution to inflammation, there is only one form of this compound you should use.
Flavonoids (also called bioflavonoids) are pigments that protect plants from free-radical damage, among other functions. The human body cannot produce these phytochemicals so we must get them through diet or supplementation.
Quercetin is a naturally occurring compound that is part of the larger category of flavonoids. The chemical name for quercetin is 3,3’4’,5,7-pentahydroxy flavones. It is found in a variety of foods and botanicals. Food sources high in quercetin include allium family vegetables like onion, brassica family vegetables, and apples.
There are hundreds of types of quercetin, however, all quercetins are not the same. A couple forms have been marketed heavily and even gained some popularity, in spite of limited clinical value. Quercetin rutinoside, for example, is not well absorbed by the body1 and quercetin chalcone, which is like hesperidin, has limited efficacy due to a short half-life.
Quercetin dihydrate is the safer, more bioavailable, active form compared to quercetin chalcone, which must be corrected to a quercetin dihydrate equivalent since a third or more of chalcone is hydrolyzed (inactive). It is only the quercetin dihydrate form that overcomes the uptake challenge and has been shown in scientific studies to be effective.
- Anti-inflammatory activity is likely due to quercetin’s ability to inhibit lipoxygenase and leukotriene B4, both of which are part of the inflammatory cascade.2
- Inhibition of histamine release from mast cells which is the basis of allergic reactions.3
- Quercetinhas demonstrated the ability to prevent oxidative stress, and to inhibit NF-kappa B activation in an experimental model of portal hypertensive gastropathy.4,5
- It also has the ability to constrain IL-12 signaling and Th1 differentiation, which may indicate its potential as a therapeutic agent for multiple sclerosis and other Th1 cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.6
- Quercetin is a potent inhibitor of tyrosine kinase, an important enzyme in tumor development, as well.
PERQUE uses only 100% water soluble, low molecular weight quercetin dihydrate, bioavailable as in food and combined with OPC for more effective absorption in the anti-inflammation products like PERQUE Pain and PERQUE Repair Guard.
In the 20+ years since PERQUE first introduced these products, we have documented numerous clinical successes in inflammation support, from fighting a case of poison ivy to help with migraines, joint issues and muscle recovery.
Call us at 800-525-7372 if you have any questions about our inflammation support products or any other unique PERQUE formulations
- Hollman PC, de Vries JH, van Leeuwen SD, Mengelers MJ, Katan MB. Absorption of dietary quercetin glycosides and quercetin in healthy ileostomy volunteers. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Dec;62(6):1276-82.
- Bouriche H et al. Effect of Cleome arabica leaf extract, rutinand quercetin on soybean lipoxygenase activity and on generation of inflammatory eicosanoids by human neutrophils. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2005;72(3):195-201.
- Bronner C and Landry Y. Kinetics of the inhibitory effect of flavonoids on histamine secretion from mast cells. Agents Actions 1985;16:147-151.
- Moreira AJ et al. Quercetin prevents oxidative stress and NF-kappaB activation in gastric mucosa of portal hypertensive rats. Biochem Pharmacol. 2004;68(10):1939-46.
- Shyamala Ganesan, Andrea N Faris, Adam T Comstock, Sangbrita S Chattoraj, Asamanja Chattoraj, John R Burgess, Jeffrey L Curtis, Fernando J Martinez, Suzanna Zick, Marc B Hershenson and Uma S Sajjan Quercetin prevents progression of disease in elastase/LPS-exposed mice by negatively regulating MMP expression, Respiratory Research 2010, 11:131
- Muthian G, Bright JJ. Quercetin, a flavonoid phytoestrogen, ameliorates experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by blocking IL-12 signaling through JAK-STAT pathway in T lymphocyte. J Clin 2004;24(5):542-52.
- Mastrangelo S, Tomassetti M, Carratu MR, Evandri MG, Bolle P.
Quercetin reduces chromosome aberrations induced by atrazine in the Allium cepa test.Environ Mol Mutagen. 2006 May;47(4):254-9. - Horvathova K, Chalupa I, Sebova L, Tothova D, Vachalkova A.
Protective effect of quercetin and luteolin in human melanoma HMB-2 cells.
Mutat Res. 2005 Jan 3;565(2):105-12.
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