Flavonoids Best Sources - Well Being

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Dan Molecule

SO WHAT IS A FLAVONOID YOU ASK HERE IS SOME INFO:

*It's important to note that in the U.S. the largest single source of flavonoids is black and green tea, and that over half of all flavonoid intake comes from the flavan-3-ol subgroup that is so concentrated in tea; this subgroup includes catechins, epicatechins, gallocatechins, and theaflavins.

As you can see, it takes a variety of foods from a variety of different food groups to give you a good cross-section of flavonoid subcategories. The USDA estimates that in the U.S., daily total flavonoid consumption by the average adult is approximately 250-275 milligrams, with about half of total consumption coming in the form of flavan-3-ols from black and green tea.

The colorful reds, blues, and purples in berries are provided by their anthocyanidins, and that is why you find so many of these fruits listed in the anthocyanidin column.

As a group of phytonutrients, flavonoids emphasize—in a way that is not as well emphasized by perhaps any other nutrient—how valuable fruits and vegetables are to our nourishment and everyday health. since flavonoids are water-soluble, we would expect them to follow a pattern associated with other water-soluble nutrients. That pattern involves lower risk of toxicity than is associated with fat-soluble nutrients, and in many cases, a decision by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) not to establish a Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for water-soluble vitamins like vitamin B1 or vitamin B2 when obtained from food. We suspect that a similar decision might end up holding true for flavonoids as well, although it's important to remember that the NAS has yet to even establish flavonoids as a required human nutrient or to set Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) amounts for flavonoids as a group or for any specific flavonoid.

There are no specific public health recommendations for flavonoid intake. There are currently no Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) from the National Academy of Sciences and there is no Daily Value (DV) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, as described earlier in our Risk of Dietary Toxicity section, our recommendation for optimal flavonoid intake is to focus on a whole, natural, fresh foods diet that provides ample servings of vegetables and fruits. In many of our sample daily meal plans, the total vegetable-plus-fruit servings add up to 5-8 servings or more. When coupled with other flavonoid-rich foods—including nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and whole grains—your flavonoid intake is likely to far surpass the current U.S. average level of approximately 250-275 milligrams, and may in fact get closer to a level of approaching 1 gram (1,000 milligrams).

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