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Benefits of Quercetin
There are many claimed benefits of quercetin. When used as a supplement, the flavonoid is claimed to be beneficial for the treatment of cancer, heart disease, allergies, and various other conditions. Much more research is needed to confirm these supposed benefits, however. It is unknown if the dietary supplement is beneficial in children.
When used as a dietary supplement, quercetin is claimed to be useful for a variety of different purposes. Some of the claimed benefits of quercetin include the treatment of the following conditions:
- Heart disease
- Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis)
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Cataracts
- Cancer (including both cancer treatment and prevention)
- Allergies
- Intestinal or stomach ulcers
- Asthma
- Schizophrenia
- Gout
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Chronic prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate)
- Infections.
There is little real evidence that quercetin is actually helpful for many of these claimed uses (see Does Quercetin Work?).
Quercetin is a dietary flavonoid found in numerous plants. It appears to have numerous different actions that could contribute to its medicinal activity. It seems to work as an antioxidant and may also have anti-inflammatory effects. It might inhibit the growth and division of certain cells, including cancer cells, and may have anti-estrogen effects (which could possibly contribute to some effect on hormone-related cancers, such as breast cancer). For allergies, quercetin might work by inhibiting the release of histamine.
These are just a few ways that researchers have suggested that quercetin may work for a variety of conditions. At this time, it is not fully known how the different activities of quercetin may work together (or even if the flavonoid really works for most uses).
Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD