Review Backs Sea Buckthorn's Benefits for Heart Health
Lee Swanson Research Update
The new study suggests that daily consumption of sea buckthorn (28 grams per day of berries or five grams per day of oil) may hold promising health benefits for humans, particularly for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
"Sea buckthorn is a natural source of vitamins and several other bioactive compounds such as carotenoids and flavonoids, which have been claimed to lower cholesterol, platelet aggregation, blood pressure and blood sugar," said the authors, led by Yan-Jun Xu from the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, at the University of Manitoba, Canada.
The new study, published in the Journal of Functional Foods, suggests that the cardio-protective effects of sea buckthorn flavonoids have been attributed to their ability to increase circulating lipid markers, act as powerful antioxidants, improve cardiac cell health and prevent cardiac cell death from oxidative stress and injuries.
"Dietary modification by inclusion of foods with bioactive components (such as n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, plant sterols, antioxidants and vitamins) is one of the major factors for lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of CVD," said Xu and colleagues.
They said that previous research studying the role of nutrients and bioactive components such as vitamins, antioxidants and flavonoids for the prevention and management of CVD are inconsistent.
"While some studies have shown the beneficial effects of vitamins in CVD others have rejected their claims," they said. They explained that some "controversial" results may be due to the differences in the form of vitamins used in these studies (e.g. natural source vs. synthetic form).
The berries from sea buckthorn are a rich source of vitamins and minerals, while the juice of the sea buckthorn berry has been shown to contain proteins, vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, different minerals and organic acids.
"Of particular interest, the berries, oil and the seeds of sea buckthorn have been shown to possess anti-atherogenic, hypocholesterolemic, hypotensive and anti-inflammatory properties and therefore could be successfully exploited to prevent or treat CVD," the study authors said.
The new review focused on the beneficial effects of sea buckthorn, "with particular emphasis on the preventive and therapeutic aspects of cardiovascular disease."
The findings of the studies suggest that the anti-atherogenic, hypocholesterolemic and anti-platelet aggregation effects of sea buckthorn are primarily due to the unsaturated fatty acid profile and flavanols content of its oil and juice.
The findings of the studies of sea buckthorn on diabetes and heart health have also provided evidence for its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects.
Reviewing these studies, Xu and co-workers said the cardio-protective and other health benefits of sea buckthorn "are mainly attributed to the presence of flavanols, antioxidants, vitamins and other bioactive components; however, the findings of these studies have limitation such as small sample size and short duration."
They explained that large scale, double-blind clinical trials need to be conducted to establish the protective mechanism and to confirm the benefits of sea buckthorn.
Journal of Functional Foods Published online ahead of print.
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March, 2011