Pickled capers and heart health

Compound in pickled capers tied to heart health find researchers at University of California, Irvine.
Pickled capers and heart health

Eating pickled capers can have positive health affects impacting heart, thyroid and pancreas health. *

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Pickled capers and heart health; July 15, 2020 Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine shared a new findings. A compound that is commonly found in pickled capers activates proteins. The scientists report that these proteins are required for normal human brain and heart activity. They may lead to future therapies for the treatment of epilepsy and abnormal heart rhythms.

Human caper consumption dates back as far as 10,000 years. There have been archaeological findings from Mesolithic soil deposits in Syria and late Stone Age cave dwellings in the Greece and Israel. Capers have traditional been used as folk medicine. They are currently being used or studied for their potential as anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, they may have possible circulatory and gastrointestinal benefits.

Benefits include heart health, thyroid, pancreas

The research report notes that the compound quercetin is consumed when eating capers. Quercetin the researchers note can directly regulate proteins required for bodily processes. These include heartbeat, as well as normal functioning of the thyroid, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract.

According to the recap in Science News the study revealed that quercetin modulates the KCNQ channels. It regulates how they sense electrical activity in the cell. The findings suggest a previously unexpected mechanism for the therapeutic properties of capers. The mechanism may extend to other quercetin-rich foods in our diet, and quercetin-based nutritional supplements.

“Increasing the activity of KCNQ channels in different parts of the body is potentially highly beneficial,” says Geoffrey Abbott, PhD. Abbott is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. “Synthetic drugs that do this have been used to treat epilepsy and show promise in preventing abnormal heart rhythms.”

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