Starkie's Newsletter Allergies, Hip Ratio and Heart Disease

Starkie’s Newsletter

Quercetin and Allergies

For years the use of quercetin for allergies has been somewhat empirical information, meaning common knowledge. A lot of companies have sold quercetin and a lot of the research has been done on animal models with quercetin and allergies. Recently research on human cell models have shown that quercetin does indeed reduce histamine release and help to modulate cytokine inflammation response, reducing inflammation and allergenic reactions. SOME experts looking for more information about quercetin have done a systemic review and meta-analysis on quercetin coming up with some other good news about quercetin. Allergies After review of many studies (meta-analysis) results showed that supplementation of 500 milligrams or more a day reduce CRP (c—reactive proteins). CRP proteins are a sensitive blood marker for inflammation and infection or chronic disease in the body, and can be present for many reasons. What becomes so critical is that quercetin is effective in lowering CRP proteins and modulation of inflammation was found with quercetin making quercetin an effective product for inflammation. Quercetin food sources include

Waist hip ratio and heart disease

Waist hip ratio is a simple body check that can be done easily in the house. The method uses a simple tape measure that can be bought for a small amount of money. Measure the largest area around the buttocks, then measure the waist around the navel. Take the waist measurement and divide it with the hip measurement. The ratio that appears is called the waist hip ratio (WHR) and is a power full tool for preventing heart disease (atherosclerosis). The WHR is also a strong indicator for potential diabetes. The numbers you can look to for safety are .8 or below for females and .9 or below for males. Waist Measurement Recent research has also indicated aging with increased WHR is more of a critical factor than obesity by itself in relation to mortality. Simply put abdominal fat around the waist is something to pay attention to for prevention of disease.

Calcium supplementation: Heart Disease

For the last few years we have seen a lot of information about calcium and heart disease. Some studies indicate that the use of supplemental calcium and cardiovascular disease prevention is controversial. Some of the most recent studies have indicated calcium supplementation is not associated with cardiovascular disease risk. Recent research is not indicating dietary calcium is associated with decreased CVD risk. This study done with a Korea population, most studies in the past have been done with Caucasian population, indicates that higher dietary calcium intake with food and supplementation had a decrease in cardiovascular disease, but did not have a reduction in stroke or bone fracture. Additionally the higher calcium consumption resulted in reduced blood pressure. Some individuals had a slight increase in BP for a short duration followed by a reduced BP, suggesting higher calcium intake is associated with reduced BP.

References

Effects of supplementation with quercetin on plasma C-reactive protein concentrations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials M Mohammadi-Sartang, Z Mazloom, S Sherafatmanesh, M Ghorbani and Donya FiroozEur J Clin Nutr 2017 71: 1033-1039; advance online publication, May 24, 2017; 10.1038/ejcn.2017.55 http://www.nature.com/ejcn/...
Isoquercitrin suppresses the expression of histamine and pro-inflammatory cytokines by inhibiting the activation of MAP Kinases and NF-κB in human KU812 cells. Li L, Zhang XH, Liu GR, Liu C, Dong YM. Chin J Nat Med. 2016 Jun;14(6):407-12. doi: 10.1016/S1875-5364(16)30036-X. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27473957
Reversion of Asthmatic Complications and Mast Cell Signalling Pathways in BALB/c Mice Model Using Quercetin Nanocrystals.
Gupta K, Kumar S, Gupta RK, Sharma A, Verma AK, Stalin K, Chaudhari BP, Das M, Singh SP, Dwivedi PD. J Biomed Nanotechnol. 2016 Apr;12(4):717-31. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27301198
C-reactive protein upregulates the whole blood expression of CD59 - an integrative analysis. Lepik K, Annilo T, Kukuškina V, Kisand K, Kutalik Z, Peterson P, Peterson H; eQTLGen Consortium. PLoS Comput Biol. 2017 Sep 18;13(9):e1005766. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005766. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28922377
Comparison of relationships between four common anthropometric measures and incident diabetes. Lee CMY, Woodward M, Pandeya N, Adams R, Barrett-Connor E, Boyko EJ, Eliasson M, Franco LJ, Fujimoto WY, Gonzalez C, Howard BV, Jacobs DR Jr, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi S, Magliano D, Schreiner P, Shaw JE, Stevens J, Taylor A, Tuomilehto J, Wagenknecht L, Huxley RR; Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Collaboration. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2017 Jul 22;132:36-44. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2017.07.022 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28783531
Kirsty Bowman, Janice L Atkins, João Delgado, Katarina Kos, George A Kuchel, Alessandro Ble, Luigi Ferrucci, and David MelzeCentral adiposity and the overweight risk paradox in aging: follow-up of 130,473 UK Biobank participantsAm J Clin Nutr 2017 106: 130-135;First published online May 31, 2017.doi:10.3945/ajcn.116.147157 http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/106/1/130.abstract
Association of Waist-Hip Ratio to Sudden Cardiac Death and Severe Coronary Atherosclerosis in Medicolegal Autopsies. Kocovski L, Lee JD, Parpia S, Fernandes J, Nair V. Am J Forensic Med Patholspan>. 2017 Sep;38(3):226-228. doi: 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000330. PMID:28692479 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28692479