Quercetin is a flavonoid, a phenolic compound high in antioxidants that are found in most plants. It is found in fruits, vegetables, herbs and derivative foods like tea, wine and cocoa powder.
Foods rich in quercetin are usually very colorful. Berries, apples, peppers and root vegetables like carrots all have this powerful flavonoid in them.
Because of it’s antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory nature, quercetin can have a lot of positive effects on your health. It is also cardioprotective and consuming foods rich in quercetin can protect your heart and blood vessels. It’s antioxidant effect can rejuvenate aging cells.
All the health benefits you get from quercetin have been studied extensively by researchers as it is the most studied flavonoid. Besides getting it directly from food, quercetin can also be found in supplement form either by itself or in combination with other ingredients.
Can quercetin be useful in helping people lose weight? You can bet that researchers have studied the effects of quercetin on how the body can use it to get rid of unwanted fat.
In this article, we will look at how this powerful plant nutrient can help people looking to beat the effects of obesity and obesity-related disease.
How Quercetin Helps With Weight Loss
When you hear about quercetin it is usually associated with other health benefits like anti-aging and cardiovascular protection. But there are some studies that confirm that quercetin, although not entirely by itself in most cases, may have some anti-obesity effects.
Here are some of the ways in which quercetin can have an effect on weight loss.
Quercetin increases brown adipose tissue (BAT)
Relatively new research suggests that increasing and activating brown adipose tissue (also known as brown fat) can start thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is where fat cells are burned so they release energy and heat. Fat mass and storage are decreased as a result.
Scientists are concluding that this is a promising new way of fighting obesity.
Quercetin is one of a number of flavonoids that can boost brown adipose tissue or cause browning of white adipose tissue. When used in combination with other flavonoids such as luteolin, the BAT boosting effect is even more powerful.
In supplements like Exipure, quercetin is combined with 7 other plant extracts and nutrients that also boost brown adipose tissue on their own. This creates a very effective formula for weight loss through the thermogenesis of fat cells and other health effects.
Quercetin can stop fat production
Studies show that quercetin can block the uptake of glucose from the blood. This deprives fat cells of the raw materials they need to make and store new fat molecules. While this is possible with just quercetin, when combined with resveratrol, another powerful flavonoid, lipid accumulation was enhanced by nearly 70%, while increasing fat cell destruction by up to 310%.
Quercetin is proven to improve insulin resistance making it even more effective as an antidiabetic than an anti-obesity solution. This outlook may be mutually beneficial to both diabetics and obese persons.
How To Get Quercetin In Your Diet
Getting quercetin in your diet isn’t particularly tough. The “master flavonoid” is present in most fruits and vegetables as well as green tea, black tea and wine.
Some of the richest sources of quercetin are very easily accessible and include:
- watercress
- okras
- red delicious apples
- cauliflower
- onions
- kale
- cranberries
- blueberries
- cherries
- red grapes
- broccoli
- cherry tomatoes
- green tea
- pears
- spinach
While the best way to get quercetin is to consume fresh fruits and vegetables daily, you can also choose to take a supplement containing the antioxidant rich nutrient. There are many to choose from and some are combined with other beneficial ingredients such as bromelain. Bromelain is an enzyme that can increase the absorption of quercetin.
If your aim is to use quercetin for weight loss, you may be interested in Exipure, a supplement mainly used to boost brown adipose tissue. It contains quercetin as one of 7 ingredients that all boost BAT according to scientific research.
Conclusion
Quercetin is a very powerful antioxidant that can have antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects on the body. Health benefits derived from this nutrient include increased cardiovascular health, rejuvenating aging cells, supporting healthy blood pressure and even fighting erectile dysfunction.
It does have some benefits for weight loss and can help by boosting brown adipose tissue in the body. BAT can use fat stores as energy thus reducing body fat and mass.
