On the polyphenolic compounds called Flavanoids and their application to health

My grandmother on my mothers side, bless her soul, knew lots of flowers latin names by heart and worked in her garden when the weather permitted. However, she was not interested in the biology of nutrition and health.

This is where I come in. I am. I want to understand how things inter-connect and work and how it can be applied to the human body to achieve better health.

Today 2023, in the popular realm of health, there are various trends, as is always the case.

However, these trends tends to evolve fast and branch into various extremes more and more.

Sometimes, there comes up new interesting ideas that to consider.

Often various research is misinterpreted or over-extrapolated etc.

Often references to other domains are made with conviction.

Like anthropological arguments about what humans have been adapted to eat through evolution and history. While there is some explanatory value in this there is some flaws in reasoning.

Like humans have adapted to like eat this or that, therefor it is the most health optimal way to eat.

Ie the above example is a logical, unscientific common mistake that is manifested in popular social health media today.

This reasoning makes pre-mature and often incorrect assumptions from which a whole health strategy is build (potentially entirely incorrectly).

Other assumptions like the premise of ONE human diet is also likely false/incorrect and should be questioned. Although there are of course common biology and adaptations, the whole premise of evolution plays out by randomness and variation as well as adaptations to local environments through selection mechanisms. But this alone is just scratching the surfice of the complexity that may explain the topic of healthy human diet.

However all ideas should be investigated and tested, both intellectually through thinking and thought experiments and through actual scientific tests or other tests (simulations for example), observations.

All to inform and educate us where to go next. As an individual we may actually not operate in our decisions and thinking the same way as a scientist. We may the be practical and interested in specific results that may apply to our specific goals, situation and idiosynchratic individualism.

This text is more a one laymens thinking experiments around these topics to find out what works for me, N=1 and not what is true on a statistical group level for all humans. 

IE I am a pragmatic, if you will self experimental health optimiser, and results is what counts. I may borrow ideas from anywhere to achieve these goals. However logic, truth and preference/inclination in harmony with my individual world view comes before other things.

Now to the topic in the title. I simply want to write down terminology of a "sub component" of the topic polyphenols. So here we go: 

     

Flavonoids can be divided into six subgroups based on their chemical structures. These subgroups are:

1. Flavones
2.  Flavonols
3. Flavanones
4. Isoflavones
5. Anthocyanidins
6. Flavonols

Each subgroup has its unique chemical structure and properties, and can be found in various plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, and nuts. 

Note. I have observed for me and others. That not all plant foods are created equal.

One could note that plants have evolved chemical strategies to survive predation which means that some of the chemicals in plants may actually have side effects in certain consumers/hosts beyond certain doses and perhaps with certain nutrient "co-factors" lacking in the host or in the plant itself.

Let me give examples. The nuts and seeds are the plants way of reproducing and getting to the next generation. So if these are overconsumed  the plant species may risk extinction, therefor a valid hypothesis is that the plant will benefit from some way of preventing this likely through defense mechanisms, ie toxic compounds in these part of the plants which are vournareble expecially for reproduction to take place.

Ie nuts and seeds will have certain defense in place.

However when it comes to fruits (and berries) the opposite could by hypothized. Ie the plant wants you to consume the fruiting body and spread the seeds in the process, and therefor a strategy would imply a perhaps partly symbiotic one where the host is rewarded, such to increase this behaviour. 

The extent to this reward can also be investigated. But in theory it could actually extend indefinitely, as long as it confines to the principles of ecological balance.

That is to say. The health benefits of fruits - Blueberries, red palm fruit, avocados, zuccini, citrus fruit, etc etc, may actually be explained by the mutualism. Perhaps this has co-evolved  with primates collecting and hunting across the savanna and as they are in between hunts a good way to stay healthy and sharp while helping the plants to survive by spreading their seeds around the landscape.

It could be argued that the right composition of these polyphenols for it's best spreader consumers should be a good strategy for the plants reproduction and survival in the world.

And therefor the anthocyanins and micronutrients in these fruits are calibrated and co-evolved with the survival of primates and humans to help them in more ways than just providing calories. (IE they will compete for the overall goodness possibly health wise and taste wise).

I think this idea is compelling and I can't help but think that fruits are superior to vegetables!

At least as a hypothesis. 

Now it has to be tested. :)