10.17.2008 10:48 AM
An Apple A Day
A New Study Shows The Fall Fruit Might Protect From the Flu
Apples and onions may protect athletes from the flu, reports Food Quality News.
Researchers from the University of South Carolina and Clemson University conducted a study on mice that found stressful exercise increased the mice’s susceptibility to the flu, but quercetin--a compound found in onions and apples--was found to negate these effects.
It was published in the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.
The reports says that if the results can be reproduced in humans, expect to see the compound in sports nutrition (onion-flavored energy drink, anyone?) to help those with heavy training regimens, such as endurance athletes and soldiers.
Lead researcher Mark Davis is quoted in the article: "Quercetin was used because of its documented widespread health benefits, which include antiviral activity, abundance in the diet and reported lack of side effects when used as a dietary supplement or food additive."
The article says a past study of quercetin showed health benefits including reduction of blood pressure in people with hypertension.
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