In the dietary supplement world, they’re always looking for the next big thing. Which is often found in food: specifically for quercetin, in onions, apples, tea and berries.
And usually, food is better than the supplement. But once in a while, a supplement seems to be effective, and work like medicine.
Quercetin is a flavonol, which is a type of flavonoid, which is a vitamin-like compound in some foods that is colorful and powerful.
If you eat onions, apples or a quercetin supplement, quercetin builds up in your bloodstream fast. Especially fast if you eat the onions–less than 45 minutes. It took nine hours for quercetin to be absorbed with the supplement, but then it did become “body-ready” or “bioavailable.”
Which is good. Because on average, the 22 people with high blood pressure in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial who were given 703 milligrams quercetin daily or a placebo for 28 days, dropped their systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 7 and 5 mm Hg, respectively, compared to placebo.
Which is amazing.
Quercetin is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory but how it might reduce blood pressure is unknown. And this is a very small study, so don’t count on replacing your blood pressure medicine just yet.
But quercetin in its natural form (see onions, apples and the USDA database for flavonoids) can taste, well, not at all like medicine. Which is also good.
It might just keep the doctor away.