Health Benefits Derived from Sweet Orange: Diosmin Supplements from Citrus

By Frank Murray

Discusses the eight most common vein complications: varicose veins, hemorrhoids, diabetes, leg ulcers, ankle swelling, capillary fragility, leg cramps and phlebitis. A safe, natural, and effective solution for these conditions is in the rind of sweet oranges, an anti-inflammatory bioflavonoid called diosmin. In supplement form diosmin promotes strong veins, healthy legs, and sound circulation. Sources and brand names for diosmin supplements are included.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
• Release date: Aug 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781591205272

Frank Murray

Frank Murray is Associate Professor in Environmental Systems, Murdoch University, Australia,

Book preview

Introduction

When dealing with health problems or when preventing them, it is a worldwide trend to turn to natural, inexpensive, alternative therapies.

More and more patients are seeking safe, natural answers for their various health problems, which are often related to obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and dietary indiscretions. For example, it is estimated that 25 percent of women and 10 percent of men complain of varicose veins. Many women develop varicose veins during their pregnancy. Other common causes of varicose veins and the obvious spider veins are overweight, chronic constipation, and abdominal tumors.

Restless legs and frequent leg cramps are related to kidney disease, diabetes, phlebitis, and Parkinson’s disease. Restless leg syndrome affects over 12 million Americans. This condition usually develops after age thirty and it becomes increasingly apparent with advancing age. Smoking, a high intake of caffeine, and alcohol abuse complicate the problem.

Thrombophlebitis results in pain, tenderness, inflammation, warmth, and a lump in a vein just under the surface of the skin. Often referred to as phlebitis, this is a common condition in older people, especially those who are sedentary or bedridden. This condition often develops when people are standing or walking for long periods. Passengers on long plane flights also have an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis because of inactivity and a change in air pressure.

An estimated one-third of Americans complain of hemorrhoids (also known as piles), which are related to chronic constipation, obesity, and pregnancy. Continued straining to pass hard stools, chronic pressure from obesity, or a developing fetus can cause permanent swelling of the anal veins and the formation of hemorrhoidal tissue. Blood from hemorrhoids may be benign (harmless), but bloody stools may be a sign of colon or rectal cancer and should be promptly investigated by a doctor.

Although these conditions can often be treated with lubricants, warm baths, laser surgery, sclerotherapy injections, and other less effective procedures, they are often merely temporary Band-Aids, and more Americans are opting for safe, alternative medicine choices.

One of the most promising therapies for treating chronic venous insufficiencies, leg ulcers, ankle swelling, and other complications of the lower extremities—as detailed in this book—is a bioflavonoidrich supplement derived from sweet oranges. Available in over-the-counter tablets, the supplement—containing the bioflavonoids diosmin and hesperidin—does not interfere with other therapies your doctor may have prescribed, and side effects, if any, are minimal.

This scientific breakthrough in dealing with some of the maladies of the twenty-first century is bound to bring relief to thousands of people around the world.

CHAPTER 1

What Are Bioflavonoids?

Once called vitamin P, bioflavonoids are a group of natural substances in fruits, vegetables, flowers, and grains. While they often appear as constituents of vitamin C, they are not present in synthetic forms of the vitamin. Since most of them have a yellow/orange color they are referred to as flavonoids, derived from the Latin word flavus for yellow. Over 800 flavonoids have been identified, of which over thirty are found in the genus Citrus alone. Some of the better-known flavonoids are hesperidin, rutin, and naringin, according to the Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia. ¹ More recently, researchers have discovered the versatility of diosmin, a flavonoid in oranges and lemons.

The Discovery of Citrus Bioflavonoids

In the mid-1930s, Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893–1986), a Hungarian-American scientist, isolated a substance from citrus rind, which he called citrin and that contained a mixture of flavonoids. In 1937, he won a Nobel Prize in medicine for his work with vitamin C.

His initial test of the new substance with scorbutic guinea pigs, reported in 1936, seemed to indicate that, in combination with ascorbic acid (vitamin C), it was effective in strengthening the body’s smallest blood vessels, the capillaries, and in curing scurvy, the Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia said. From this and subsequent work arose the concept that vitamin P, a substance or a group of substances of a flavonoid nature were involved in the regulation or permeability and maintenance of capillary integrity.

Soon afterward, research studies involving vitamin C and vitamin P were conducted on both human beings and animals around the world and journal articles attested to the clinical successes of the substances.

Vitamin P, in combination with vitamin C, was quickly brought in to treat a myriad of disorders thought to be related to faulty capillary function, such as habitual and threatened abortion, postpartum bleeding, nosebleed, skin disorders, diabetes retinitis, bleeding gums, heavy menstrual bleeding, hemorrhoids, and others.

In 1950, the Joint Committee of Biochemical Nomenclature of the American Society of Biological Chemicals and the American Institute of Nutrition recommended that vitamin P no longer be used. Following that, the name bioflavonoids was adopted, except in France and the former Soviet Union, where vitamin P remained in their dictionary. In the late 1960s, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that the bioflavonoids were not officially a vitamin.

The absorption, storage, and excretion of bioflavonoids—which like vitamin C are water-soluble—are similar to those of vitamin C, the encyclopedia continued. They are easily absorbed into the bloodstream from the upper part of the small intestine and excessive amounts are mostly excreted in the urine.

Bioflavonoids, which are measured in milligrams, are relatively stable compounds that are resistant to heat, oxygen, dryness, and moderate degrees of acidity. However, they are quickly destroyed by light.

Bioflavonoids are promoted mainly because of their function in capillary fragility and permeability, the encyclopedia added. Since all body cells depend on the capillaries to provide everything they need and to dispatch wastes, they are obviously necessary for good health.

Bleeding into the skin—as evidenced by red spots under the skin—and bruises are a sign of capillary breakage and an indication that the capillaries are fragile. Edema—the accumulation of fluid in the tissues—can also result from weak capillaries that are too permeable—capillaries that allow the escape of blood proteins that are needed for retaining the proper osmotic pressure to draw accumulated intercellular fluid back into the bloodstream, the encyclopedia said.

How Bioflavonoids Keep Veins Strong and Flexible

The mechanism by which bioflavonoids exert their influence on capillary fragility and permeability is not fully understood. However, researchers have shown that capillary breakage is characteristic of the vitamin C deficiency disease, scurvy, and that vitamin C has a vital role in maintaining capillary health. Since bioflavonoids and vitamin C are found together in nature, it is theorized that they function together to increase the strength of the capillaries and in regulating their permeability (having pores or openings that allow blood and liquids to pass through).

According to the Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia, these are some of the disorders in which bioflavonoids treat various disorders:

• Capillary fragility and bleeding

• Bleeding gums

• Bleeding into the retina of the eye

• Certain types of glaucoma

• Hemorrhage into the brain

• Bleeding kidneys

• Female problems, including heavy menstrual bleeding

• Varicose veins

• Hemorrhoids

Reviews for Health Benefits Derived from Sweet Orange

[Pravisa Pravic · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Excellent infromatin on sweet organe suplement for treating varicouse veins, haemeroids, safely.