Resveratrol and Quercetin: The Natural Dual-Defense System Against Cancer and Heart Disease

Heart disease, primarily heart attack (myocardial infarction), and many types of cancer are known to be the biggest health-related causes of death in the United States in Europe. Heart attack mainly results from a diet high in saturated fats, which, in turn, leads to blood clots and bad cholesterol clogging up the arteries. Cancer, on the other hand, is caused by free radicals that cause oxidative stress and damage healthy cells.

Medical experts advise us that the best way to avoid these diseases is to live a healthy lifestyle: exercise plenty, get enough rest, and eat nutritious food. For heart disease and cancer, green leafy vegetables are always a must, but there are always other and tastier foods that are also highly recommended. Some of these include apples, red onions, green tea, red wine, chocolate, red grapes, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, bilberries, and peanuts.

You might wonder what nutrients are in these foods to make them healthy and powerful enough to prevent the offset of heart diseases and cancers. The answer is two-toned: Resveratrol and Quercetin. Both are naturally-occurring compounds that offer a multitude of benefits to the human health. Resveratrol is a polyphenol, an antibiotic known to protect plants from harmful elements in their environment, such as extreme temperatures, plant diseases, and exposure to ultraviolet rays of the sun. Quercetin, on the other hand, is a flavonoid, a plant pigment responsible for the vivid colors of some plants. Imagine bright red grapes, deep blueberries, and cheerful yellow flowers.

Red wine, in particular, contains a huge concentration of Resveratrol and Quercetin. This makes red wine a much recommended addition to any healthy meal. Both Resveratrol and Quercetin have anti-aggregating properties that prevent the platelets of blood from clumping up together in the arteries. In comparative studies conducted on wine-consuming peoples, it was found out that blood clots (thrombi) are a more common cause of heart attacks instead of clogging due to plaques of cholesterol (atheroma). This does not mean, however, that Resveratrol and Quercetin do not have potency against the effects of a high-fat diet. In fact, both of these compounds have the ability to protect the body from damage caused by low-density lipoproteins (LDL), more commonly known as bad cholesterol.

Both flavonoids, including Quercetin, and Resveratrol also pose anti-carcinogenic properties that help prevent many types of cancer, particularly cancer of the breast, prostate, colon, ovaries, kidney, esophagus, and lungs. Resveratrol, in particular, has potent anti-cancer properties that can prevent and cure cancer. Both Quercetin and Resveratrol also have anti-oxidizing properties that fight free radicals that cause damage to healthy cells and human DNA, resulting in the growth of abnormal cancer cells and tumors.

Drinking red wine regularly may be the most common way of receiving Resveratrol and Quercetin, but there are better ways for this. Supplements for Resveratrol and Quercetin have recently become very popular, especially for the health-conscious. They are, as a matter of fact, more effective than drinking one glass of red wine everyday because of the higher concentration of these nutrients in supplements. There is also zero alcohol content in Resveratrol and Quercetin supplements, so nothing offsets the anti-heart disease and cancer powers of these two compounds.

Based on research, the top recommended resveratrol supplement is Resveratrol Select