(MensNewsDaily.com) — Polyphenols are chemical compounds that are found in most of the plant-based foods that we commonly eat. As I discuss in detail in my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, some polyphenolic compounds, such as green tea flavonoids, soy-based isoflavones, quercetin, curcumin, and resveratrol, among other polyphenols, may possess important cancer prevention properties.
Hesperidin, which is a flavonoid polyphenol, is found in a variety of plant-based foods, including oranges, orange juice, and other citrus fruits. A newly published prospective, randomized, blinded clinical research study, which appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, offers intriguing evidence that hesperidin may actually decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease in high-risk patients.
In this pilot study, 24 overweight (but otherwise healthy) men, ages 50 to 65 years, were subjected to 4-week intervals in each of three experimental groups. The first group was assigned to drink 500 ml (17 ounces) of orange juice per day. The second experimental group drank a “control drink” that appeared similar to orange juice, but which did not contain any actual orange juice. However, this “sham orange juice” was fortified with hesperidin. The third group was also assigned to drink the fake orange juice, and to which was added a supplement portrayed (to the study volunteers, and to the research nurses who administered the beverages to these research volunteers) as hesperidin, but which, in fact, was an inert placebo that contained no hesperidin or other polyphenols.
Physical examinations and blood tests were performed before and after the men rotated through each of these three experimental groups.
Interesting article on orange juice. Your readers should probably be made aware that orange juice can dilute the effects of certain blood pressure medication such as atenolol.