Have you ever thought eating oranges and lemons could be so healthy?
Hesperidin, a flavonoid found in orange peels, has many benefits. They include protecting the heart and brain, reducing diabetes symptoms, and preventing cancer. Listed below are the other noted health benefits of this glycoside. We have compiled a cookbook filled with delicious recipes containing the world’s healthiest foods, check out our Lectin Avoidance Diet Cookbook.
- Health Benefits of Hesperidin
- 1) Hesperidin Works As an Antioxidant
- 2) Hesperidin Helps Prevent Cancer
- 3) Hesperidin Is Anti-Inflammatory
- 4) Hesperidin Protects the Heart
- 5) Hesperidin Helps with Fat Loss
- 6) Hesperidin May Protect Against Eye Damage in Diabetes
- 7) Hesperidin Protects the Brain
- 8) Hesperidin Works As an Adaptogen and Antidepressant
- 9) Hesperidin Reduces Stress and Anxiety
- 10) Hesperidin Relieves Pain
- 11) Hesperidin Helps Treat Allergies
- 12) Hesperidin As a HemorrhoidTreatment
- 13) Hesperidin Enhances Skin Health
- 14) Hesperidin Promotes Bone Health and Prevents Osteoporosis
- 15) Hesperidin May Have Sleep-Enhancing Properties
- 16) Hesperidin May Improve Circulation
- 17) Hesperidin Helps Treat Chronic Venous Insufficiency
- Sources of Hesperidin
- Warnings and Side Effects of Hesperidin
- Buy Hesperidin
Citrus fruits, mainly oranges and tangerines, contain hesperidin (R).
Upon consumption, hesperidin is degraded by gut bacteria in the colon (R).
Another form of this flavonoid is hesperitin. Many studies use hesperitin instead of hesperidin. This is because drug administration is more efficient than consuming very high amounts of hesperidin.
Health Benefits of Hesperidin
1) Hesperidin Works As an Antioxidant
Oxidants, such as hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals, cause oxidative stress. Oxidative damage causes disorders such as cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants help protect against oxidative stress (R).
Both hesperidin and hesperitin function as antioxidants. They both have radical scavenging activity. This means that they stop free radicals from damaging cells (R).
Hesperidin neutralizes reactive oxygen species. This protects DNA, proteins, and tissues from radiation, inflammation, and toxins. It also prevents oncogenes from causing cells to become cancerous. Oncogenes are genes that can cause cells to transform into tumor cells (R).
2) Hesperidin Helps Prevent Cancer
The antioxidant activities of hesperidin help prevent cancer. It neutralizes reactive oxygen species to protect against oncogenes. Oncogenes are genes that cause cells to transform into tumor cells (R).
In rats, satsuma mandarin juice enhanced with hesperidin significantly reduced the incidence of colon cancer in rats (R).
In male rats suffering from colon cancer, hesperidin administration stopped cancer cell growth. It also increased cancer cell death in the colon (R).
3) Hesperidin Is Anti-Inflammatory
It also reduced inflammatory cytokine production in rats (R).
4) Hesperidin Protects the Heart
Many factors affect heart health. Oxidative stress, high fat, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol all contribute to an unhealthy heart. Hesperidin administration helpswith all these symptoms and protects the heart.
Hesperidin Protects Heart Tissue
Daily oral hesperidin administration at 100 mg/kg to old rats for 90 days benefited heart tissue. Hesperidin protected against oxidative stress and increased antioxidant levels. It also lowered inflammation (R).
Hesperidin Helps Control Blood Sugar
Hesperidin may increase adiponectin, a protein hormone that helps control glucose and fat energy production. Increasing adiponectin helps reduce fat accumulation. This improves blood vessel conditions and improves circulation in the heart (R).
Hesperidin Reduces Blood Pressure
Hesperidin May Lower Cholesterol
However, hesperidin does not show the same effects in humans. In men and women with high cholesterol levels, hesperidin and naringin (another citrus flavonoid) administration did not lower cholesterol levels (R).
5) Hesperidin Helps with Fat Loss
Glucosyl hesperidin (G-hesperidin) is a water-soluble form of hesperidin. A combination of G-hesperidin and caffeine reduced body fat in humans. It significantly reduced stomach fat, body weight, and BMI in people with a moderately high BMI. This combination may help treat or prevent obesity (R).
6) Hesperidin May Protect Against Eye Damage in Diabetes
Daily oral administration of hesperidin for 12 weeks mildly decreased blood glucose levels in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. It also stopped PKC-β and VEGF activity. This protected the rats from vision impairment (R).
7) Hesperidin Protects the Brain
D-galactose is a sugar that causes oxidative stress in the brain. If present in the nervous system, it kills nerve cells by disrupting mitochondrial function. In rats, pre-treatment with hesperidin and curcumin protected the brain against D-galactose. It reduced cognitive problems by preventing nerve cell death (R).
In mice models of Alzheimer’s disease, hesperidin administration reduced symptoms of the disease. A dose of 100 mg/kg per day of hesperidin reduced learning and memory problems. It also improved physical activity (R).
Finally, hesperidin may be able to protect the brain during strokes. A dosage of 50 mg/kg of hesperidin daily for 15 days helped with brain function in male rats. It reduced inflammation, and also reduced free radicals in the brain (R).
8) Hesperidin Works As an Adaptogen and Antidepressant
In the rat model of stress-induced depression, hesperidin may be able to reduce depressive symptoms. Three weeks of oral administration improved rat behavior in this study. This may be due to the control of the HPA axis, which is a stress response system (R).
The opioid system is also a contributing factor for major depression. Hesperidin possessed antidepressant-like properties and positively interacts with the opioid system. It worked with opioid receptors to reduce depression symptoms in mice (R).
9) Hesperidin Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Stress causes health problems. It increases oxidative damage in the body, also activating the HPA axis, causing changes in the body’s homeostasis (balance). Chronic stress causes anxiety and mood disorders (R).
10) Hesperidin Relieves Pain
11) Hesperidin Helps Treat Allergies
Immunoglobulin E (IgE) provokes allergic reactions by releasing histamine and causing inflammation. In humans, administration of both hesperidin and hesperitin suppressed IgE’s effects. It inhibited histamine release and stopped Th2 cytokine secretion (R).
12) Hesperidin As a HemorrhoidTreatment
Hemorrhoid patients reported less pain, swelling, and bleeding after 12 days of treatment. They also used fewer painkillers after the flavonoid administration (R).
13) Hesperidin Enhances Skin Health
Topical hesperidin treatment in mice helped with skin health. It kept the skin barrier at a balance, and also stimulated skin cell production (R).
Additionally, hesperidin protects the skin from radiation. A compound called hesperidin methyl chalcone helped stop oxidative damage in mouse skin cells. It reduced free radicals in a mouse model of UV radiation, and reduced inflammatory cytokine production (R).
Topical hesperetin may also be an effective skin whitening agent (R).
14) Hesperidin Promotes Bone Health and Prevents Osteoporosis
Hesperidin administration enhances osteoblast formation. Osteoblasts are cells that help with bone formation (R).
Hesperitin-7-glucuronide is the main circulating form of hesperidin. Its administration in rats helped increase bone cell formation (R).
In female mice, hesperidin supplementation prevented bone loss in all three areas of the femur. Osteoclasts are bone cells that break down bone tissue to release minerals. Hesperidin decreased the number of osteoclasts in the bones (R).
In addition to preventing bone loss, hesperidin did not have any negative effects on the uterus. However, the dose of hesperidin used in the study was much higher than the usual daily intake. It is unlikely for someone to consume that high of an amount in a normal diet (R).
Androgen deficiency can also cause bone loss. Male mice fed a diet with hesperidin had less bone loss compared to mice fed a normal diet (R).
15) Hesperidin May Have Sleep-Enhancing Properties
However, its sedative properties are only significant if it is injected into the body at a high level. Oral intake of hesperidin might not have the same effects (R).
16) Hesperidin May Improve Circulation
Oral administration of both hesperidin and hesperetin may increase blood flow. Daily intake of 500 mg of hesperidin daily for three weeks in metabolic syndrome patients increased blood flow. This is due to the widening of their blood vessels (R).
Additionally, 150 mg of a water soluble form of hesperidin improved blood flow in women (R).
17) Hesperidin Helps Treat Chronic Venous Insufficiency
Sources of Hesperidin
- Citrus fruit hybrids
- Sun-dried tangerine peels
2) Various Herbs and Plants
- Boehmeria nivea (R)
- Dangshen (Codonpsis pilosula) (R)
- Japanese catnip (Schizonepeta tenuifolia) (R)
- Valeriana wallichii (R)
- Honeybush (Cyclopia subternata ) (R)
- Byrsonima crassifolia (R)
- Peppermint (Mentha × Piperita) (R)
Warnings and Side Effects of Hesperidin
Hesperidin can slow blood clotting and increase blood flow. It may make bleeding disorders worse (R).
Many studies use very high amounts of hesperidin to get the health benefits. It would be nearly impossible to consume the required amount of hesperidin-containing food to get the same benefits as supplementation.
- A 50 mg/kg hesperidin administration led to higher total protein and albumin levels in mice after irradiation (R)
- Hesperidin inhibited NF-kB activity and TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 production (R)
- Hesperitin has estrogenic effects in cell culture; its neuroprotective effects may also depend on estrogenic transmission (R)
- Also, hesperitin inhibitz various intestinal bacteria (R)
- Hesperidin works with other orange phenols (myricetin, chlorogenic acid, and naringenin) (R)
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