Researchers from Germany, the Univ. of Hawaii and Univ. of Southern California tracked food intake and health outcomes of 183,518 participants in the Multiethnic Cohort Study for eight years. The study evaluated the participants’ food consumption and calculated the intake of the three flavonols quercetin, kaempferol, and myricetin. The analyses determined that flavonol intake does have an impact on the risk for developing pancreatic cancer.

Smokers with the lowest intake of flavonols presented with the most pancreatic cancer. Smoking is an established risk factor for the often fatal pancreatic cancer, notes the research.

Among the other findings were that women had the highest intake of total flavonols and seventy percent of the flavonol intake came from quercetin, linked to apple and onion consumption.

These flavonols are believed to exert their anti-cancer effects due to their ability to reduce oxidative stress and alter other cellular functions related to cancer development. These compounds are also found on other plant foods such as apples, onions, tea, berries, kale, and broccoli, but quercetin is highest in apples and onions.

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Naturally-Occuring Quercetin Reduce Pancreatic Cancer Risks

How did we pick? Our list is based a variety of factors, ranging from overall proven health benefits (through multiple peer-reviewed, valid scientific studies from around the world over many years), our own experience here at BrainReady using these foods regularly, general reports from consumers of these foods over the years, proven safety and lack of contraindications from these foods, and general availability/ease of incorporation of these foods by the most people in most countries.

And their Top 5 (not in order of priority):

1. Wild Salmon
2. Cacao Beans
3. Matcha (Tencha-grade green tea powder)
4. Acai berries & Blueberries (tie)
5. Coffee beans

Except for #3, I pretty much have covered the health benefits of these food items here at Eating Fabulous, although I have written a fair number of entries on green tea.

Go on, hope over to Brain Ready, and be sure to read until the last paragraphs. I can only agree when they mentioned that there is no such thing as anti-aging elixir. For functional foods to work, they have to be consumed regularly and consistently over a long period of time, and should be part of a healthy diet.

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Top 5 Brain Foods

“Our study showed that acute consumption of this particular flavanol-rich cocoa beverage was associated with increased blood flow to grey matter for 2 to 3 hours,” Macdonald said. “This raises the possibility that certain food components like cocoa flavanols may be beneficial in increasing brain blood flow and enhancing brain function among older adults or for others in situations where they may be cognitively impaired, such as fatigue or sleep deprivation.”

It’s too early to tell, of course, but could chocolate be the new prophylactic for preventing cognitive decline and dementia? Hm, like I need another alibi to eat chocolates.

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Chocolate is Good for the Brain, Too!

Flavonoids are secondary plant metabolites thought to play an important role in reducing risks for cardiovascular diseases. So, scientists came up with a tomato cultivar with richer flavonoid content by inserting Petunia chalcone isomerase (CHI) and Gerbera hybrida flavone synthase (FNS) genes into tomato plants to obtain the final transgenic plant, Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Moneymaker.

In a controlled study, the flavonoid-rich tomatoes (flTom) were fed to mice genetically engineered to express human C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation and therefore a good predictor for the onset of type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Data indicate that flTom significantly exceeded the wild type tomatoes in decreasing CRP levels, and therefore cardiovascular and type 2- diabetes risks. We’re talking of an equivalent to a human daily intake of 2.3 grams of peel or about 230 grams of fresh tomato.

According to this article, here’s why flTom aces the wild types:

The flTom contained significantly higher concentrations of the flavonoles, quercitin and kampferol, and their respective glucosides and rutinosides, and the flavone, luteolin (aglycon and glucoside derivatives) than the normal wild-type tomato (wtTom).

And it is the effect of these flavonoids, propose the researchers, on the signalling of the so-called nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-kB), a pro-inflammatory protein that is also said to activate a variety of human cancers, that could be behind the benefits.

Of course, it will still take years of human clinical trials and regulatory processes before these tomatoes find its way to your supermarket. If, and when it does, would you consider adding flTom to your salads?

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Genetically Engineered Tomatoes With Enhanced Flavonol Content