A glass of orange or lemon juice every morning at breakfast is an excellent habit to fill up with vitamin C first thing in the morning but citrus fruits have many other tricks up their sleeve.
(Lemon and orange against diabetes)
Indeed, these are rich in flavonoids, very powerful antioxidants, apparently capable of reducing several chronic diseases.
This was revealed at the Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society. A team of researchers from the Universidad Estadual Paulista in Brazil came to present the conclusions of a study they had conducted on the subject.
The study
The researchers studied the effects of flavonoids on oxidative stress, which is responsible for the development of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Oxidative (or oxidative) stress is caused by the accumulation of fat in the body, causing an imbalance through the production of toxic substances.
To study the effects of flavonoids on the organism, the team took more than fifty mice (not genetically modified) and divided them into 3 distinct groups. The first group was fed ‘normally’ (standard diet), the second group received a high-fat Western-style diet and the last group received a high-fat diet, also with the addition of flavonoids from the lemon and orange.
The results
It was then noticed that flavonoids had helped reduce oxidative stress in mice, lowered lipid and blood sugar levels and reduced liver damage as well. However, no weight loss was noted. These observations were not detected in the first 2 groups of mice.
Drink lemon juice and orange juice!
These results show that flavonoids present in citrus fruits help prevent, or delay, the appearance of chronic diseases related to obesity. People who are not obese can of course also consume citrus fruits (nature is preferred, homemade juices, as commercial juices often contain too many added sugars). These will be equally beneficial to them.
Studies are currently underway to determine the most effective administration: consuming fried food directly or through dietary supplements.
Also read: Gluci-Chek : the application that helps to manage your diabetes
Sources and references
(1) John A. Manthey. Issues Surrounding the Anti-Inflammatory Actions of the Citrus Polymethoxylated Flavones. ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1129. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2013-1129.ch010
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