Flavonols are found in plant-based foods with onions, apples, berries, kale, and broccoli having the highest concentrations. Some of the common flavonols include:
Fisetin is a natural flavonol found in edible vegetables, fruits, and wine.
Kaempferol flavonol
Myricetin flavonol
Quercetin

Not so common Flavonols are:
Icariin

Eyesight Rx with Flavonols
Supports Healthy Vision
Developed by Ray Sahelian, M.D.


Unlike some vision products that provide nutrients and herbs for long term healthy eyesight support, and prevention of visual impairment, but don't seem to have much of an immediate effect on visual acuity, Eyesight Rx was formulated to provide a quick and noticeable eyesight improvement within hours or days of use.

Reports from Eyesight Rx users indicate enhanced clarity of vision, colors being brighter, better focus, and overall improvement in close and distance vision. We've had reports of some people noticing this effect within a half hour, while most people notice improved eyesight within hours. Still others will realize their eyesight is sharper the next morning when they take their second dose.
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Subscribe to a FREE Supplement Research Update newsletter  Twice a month you will receive an email consisting of a brief abstract of several new studies on various supplements and natural medicine topics, including flavonolds, and their practical interpretation by Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Supplement Facts:
Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
Citrus bioflavonoids
     (eriocitrin, hesperidin, flavonols, flavones, flavonoids, naringenin, and quercetin)
Mixed carotenoids
     (alpha carotene, astaxanthin, beta carotene, cryptoxanthin, Lutein, Lycopene, Zeaxanthin)
Bilberry extract (Vaccinium myrtillus)
Eyebright extract (Euphrasia officianales)
Jujube extract (Zizyphus jujube)
Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo biloba)
Suma extract (Pfaffia paniculata)
Mucuna pruriens extract (Cowhage)
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)
Lycium berry extract (Lycium Barbarum) - also known as Goji Berry
Sarsaparila (Sarsaparilla Smilax)
Alpha Lipoic Acid

Blood Thinning Flavonols in Chocolate and Cocoa
An increasing number of foods have been reported to have platelet-inhibitory actions, and research with a number of flavanol -rich foods, including, grape juice, cocoa and chocolate, suggests that these foods provide some protection against thrombosis. Consumption of flavanol -rich cocoa inhibit several measures of platelet activity including, epinephrine - and ADP-induced glycoprotein IIb/IIIa and P-Selectin expression, platelet microparticle formation, and epinephrine-collagen and ADP-collagen induced primary hemostasis. The epinephrine-induced inhibitory effects on GP IIb/IIIa and primary hemostasis are similar to, though less robust than those associated with the use of low dose (81 mg) aspirin. Flavanols present in cocoa and chocolate can modulate platelet function through a multitude of pathways.

Flavonoids, heart disease, and stroke
Foods rich in flavonoids -- from apples and pears to dark chocolate and red wine -- may help shield postmenopausal women from coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke, a new study shows. Flavonoids have been hypothesized to protect the heart by reducing levels of low-density lipoprotein or "bad" cholesterol and reducing inflammation. Dr. Pamela J. Mink of Exponent, Inc., used three newly available databases from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine the flavonoid contain of foods, the researchers analyzed results of food questionnaires on diet from 34,489 postmenopausal women participating in the Iowa Women's Health Study. Dr. Pamela J. Mink and colleagues specifically examined the association between the amount of flavonoids the diet and heart disease and death over a 16-year period. The new information allowed the researchers to look at both total flavonoids and seven different subclasses of the plant compound. Three subclasses of flavonoids, anthocyanidins, flavanones, and flavones, were linked to a significantly reduced risk of heart disease, blood vessel disease or cardiovascular disease mortality. Specific foods also were linked to risk reductions in heart, blood vessel disease and mortality as well, including bran, apples, pears, red wine, grapefruit, strawberries and chocolate. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2007.

Flavonols and pancreatic cancer
Evaluation of the eating patterns of 183,000 California and Hawaii residents has found evidence that a diet high in flavonols reduces the risk for pancreatic cancer. During an average of 8 years, 529 subjects developed pancreatic cancer. People who had the largest amount of flavonols in their diet -- measured with a "food frequency" questionnaire -- had a 23-percent lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with people with the lowest levels, Dr. Ute Nöthlings from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Los Angeles in April 2007.

Flavonols Research Update
Vascular and anti-oxidant actions of flavonols and flavones.
Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2004 Nov;31(11):786-90.
Flavonols and flavones are plant-derived polyphenolic compounds that are commonly consumed in the diet. Epidemiological studies indicating that high dietary intake of flavonols reduces the risk of mortality due to coronary heart disease have provoked interest in the mechanism of this cardioprotective effect. We have investigated the structure-activity relationships of a range of flavonols and flavones with regard to their vascular relaxant and anti-oxidant activity. In rat isolated thoracic aorta, the synthetic flavonol 3',4'-dihydroxyflavonol was found to be a significantly more potent vasorelaxant than the naturally occurring compounds chrysin, apigenin, luteolin, quercetin and fisetin. Similarly, flavonol 3',4'-dihydroxyflavonol was significantly more potent than those compounds in the inhibition of calcium-induced contraction of the rat aorta. 3. 3',4'-Dihydroxyflavonol was also found to significantly inhibit superoxide radical generation in a cell-free system in the presence of xanthine / xanthine oxidase or by rat isolated aorta in the presence of NADPH. In the presence of oxidant stress generated by pyrogallol or xanthine / xanthine oxidase, endothelium-dependent relaxation of rat aortic rings was impaired. 3',4'-Dihydroxyflavonol was able to significantly improve endothelium-dependent relaxation in the presence of those oxygen radical generators. 4. In addition, flavonol 3',4'-dihydroxyflavonol was found to significantly improve dilatation in the rat hindquarters vasculature after exposure to ischaemia and reperfusion. 3',4'-Dihydroxyflavonol was found to be equally effective whether applied before ischaemia or during ischaemia just before reperfusion. 5. In conclusion, flavonol 3',4'-dihydroxyflavonol is an effective vasodilator and anti-oxidant that is able to prevent vascular reperfusion injury. We suggest that flavonol 3',4'-dihydroxyflavonol may be useful as an adjunct to thrombolytic therapy in the management of reperfusion injury.

Vasorelaxing effects of flavonoids: investigation on the possible involvement of potassium channels.
Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2004 Oct;370(4):290-8.
A flavonoid-rich diet has been associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases, probably because of the antioxidant and vasoactive properties of flavonoids. Indeed, many flavonoids show vasorelaxing properties, due to different and often not yet completely clarified mechanisms of action. Among them, the activation of vascular potassium channels has been indicated as a possible pathway, accounting, at least in part, for the vasodilatory action of some flavonoid derivatives, such as apigenin and dioclein. Therefore, this work aims at evaluating, on in vitro isolated rat aortic rings, the endothelium-independent vasorelaxing effects of a number of flavonoid derivatives, to identify a possible activation of calcium-activated and/or ATP-sensitive potassium channels and to indicate some possible structure-activity relationships. Among the several flavonoids submitted to the pharmacological assay, only baicalein and quercetagetin were almost completely ineffective, while quercetin, hesperidin, quercitrin and rhoifolin exhibited only a partial vasorelaxing effect. On the contrary, acacetin, apigenin, chrysin, hesperetin, luteolin, pinocembrin, 4'-hydroxyflavanone, 5-hydroxyflavone, 5-methoxyflavone, 6-hydroxyflavanone and 7-hydroxyflavone, belonging to the chemical classes of flavones and flavanones, showed full vasorelaxing effects. The vasodilatory activity of hesperetin, luteolin, 5-hydroxyflavone and 7-hydroxyflavone were antagonised by tetraethylammonium chloride, indicating the possible involvement of calcium-activated potassium channels. Moreover, iberiotoxin clearly antagonised the effects of 5-hydroxyflavone, indicating the probable importance of a structural requirement (the hydroxy group in position 5) for a possible interaction with large-conductance, calcium-activated potassium channels. Finally, glibenclamide inhibited the vasorelaxing action of luteolin and 5-hydroxyflavone, suggesting that ATP-sensitive potassium channels may also be involved in their mechanism of action. Flavonol.

Short-term administration of dark chocolate is followed by a significant increase in insulin sensitivity and a decrease in blood pressure in healthy persons.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Mar;81(3):611-4.
Numerous studies indicate that flavanols may exert significant vascular protection because of their antioxidant properties and increased nitric oxide bioavailability. In turn, nitric oxide bioavailability deeply influences insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and vascular tone. Thus, flavanols may also exert positive metabolic and pressor effects.  The objective was to compare the effects of either dark or white chocolate bars on blood pressure and glucose and insulin responses to an oral-glucose-tolerance test in healthy subjects. DESIGN: After a 7-d cocoa-free run-in phase, 15 healthy subjects were randomly assigned to receive for 15 d either 100 g dark chocolate bars, which contained approximately 500 mg polyphenols, or 90 g white chocolate bars, which presumably contained no polyphenols. Successively, subjects entered a further cocoa-free washout phase of 7 d and then were crossed over to the other condition. Although within normal values, systolic blood pressure was lower after dark than after white chocolate ingestion (107 compared with 113). Dark, but not white, chocolate decreases blood pressure and improves insulin sensitivity in healthy persons.

Flavonol questions
Q. Does kava kava contain flavonols?
   A. I don't know, if it does the flavonol content is probably not too high.

Q. Do you see any problems taking nattokinase supplement, serrapeptase enzyme or ahcc supplement with a flavonol supplement?
   A. As long as the dosages are kept low, it should be okay to take them the same day.