Protection against chest infections

Fruits, berries and tea may provide an answer.

New research, published in New Scientist magazine, points towards a possible solution to exercise-derived chest infection: the flavonoid quercetin, found in berries, fruits and tea. Flavonoids are water-soluble plant pigments.
 
The Pentagon’s research arm - DARPA – has been funding research into the substance in the hope that it could provide protection for its troops.
 
It’s a common complaint of marathon runners and soldiers alike. Overdo the exercise and you fall victim to illness, particularly chest infections. Now it seems that quercetin may protect them.

100 apples or a placebo

According David Nieman from the Appalachian State University who led the research: “During missions, soldiers are running around for two or three days with heavy packs on. They don’t eat or sleep, and infections are as much of a problem if not a more serious issue than injuries.”
 
The research consisted of giving 40 male cyclists either one gram of quercetin a day, a similar amount to that found in 100 apples, or a placebo. The subjects were then subjected to a three day intensive exercise period. At the end of the period, nine of those who had consumed a placebo had a chest infection, while only one who had consumed the quercetin suffered similarly.
 
Further research will focus on whether the flavonoid can have a similar effect on people with high levels of mental stress, as these people are also at greater risk of infection.

You’ve read it. Now review it.

Back to top

Back to top