In this post, we’ll discuss what is luteolin, some of the latest research related to luteolin and health, and rank luteolin rich foods.
Health organizations do not yet provide any statements regarding the health effects of many phytochemicals like luteolin or provide a recommended dietary intake value. Nevertheless, there exists a growing body of evidence that suggests luteolin may be a useful compound present in food for maintaining good health.
Luteolin and Health
Luteolin is a polyphenol found in relatively larger concentrations in certain plants. Particularly, they tend to be high in peppers, among others.
Flavanoids are a class of polyphenols (compounds with a particular chemical structure) that have begun to accumulate research expounding their potential virtues towards good health.
And luteolin is a flavone, a type of flavonoid.
Polyphenols have shown promise as a chemo-protective. In other words, epidemiological studies have shown that polyphenols may help reduce your risk of developing cancer.
See our rankings by quercetin, kaempferol, or cyanidin content!
Flavones are a subgroup of polyphenols that, like other flavonoids, show promising associations between reduced risk of several cancers and chronic diseases like heart disease.
Luteolin is no different. Luteolin also displays many of the same associations and metabolic activity associated with chemoprevention.
While the distinct reasons for luteolin’s health benefits remain under debate, there are several mechanistic pathways that offer insight. And these mechanisms are also believed to attribute to luteolin’s potential anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective behaviors.
So although more research needs to determine what, if any, are the true merits of this particular flavonoid, luteolin has shown great promise as a natural compound found in a variety of healthy foods that may help combat several of the major chronic diseases we face today.
Luteolin Rich Foods
Luteolin rich foods are primarily vegetables. However, some fruits also contain luteolin, too.
Using the USDA Food Database, we have compiled data from all the fruits and vegetables that contain information about polyphenol concentration.
We ranked all 37 foods in the USDA’s database that contain luteolin by luteolin density. In other words, the foods with the highest concentration of luteolin per calorie are shown below ranked as the orange shaded portion.
We also include the luteolin content as mg/100g, shown as green (vegetable) or blue (fruits) bars.
See the snapshot below of the most luteolin-rich foods, ranked, or use our interactive chart, here!
Luteolin Rich Vegetables
There is one fruit that breaks into the top 10 most luteolin rich foods. Lemons.
Further down the list you’ll find, in order of luteolin density, cantaloupe, watermelon, navel oranges, and red grapefruit.
However, a select group of vegetables tend to have the highest concentrations of luteolin.
As a group, peppers tend to have relatively large concentrations of luteolin.
Here are the top 10 most luteolin-dense vegetables.
Luteolin in Food for Health
Luteolin, like other flavonoids, are showing promise as compounds beneficial for health and reducing your risk of several chronic diseases and age-related diseases. You’ll want to pay attention to new research that emerges on these compounds.