Dietary flavonoids and nitrate: effects on nitric oxide and vascular function
Open accessAbstract
Emerging evidence highlights dietary flavonoids and nitrate as candidates that may explain at least part of the cardioprotective effect of a fruit and vegetable diet. Nitric oxide plays a pivotal role in cardiovascular health. Components of a fruit and vegetable diet that are cardioprotective, in part through effects on nitric oxide status, could substantially reduce the cardiovascular risk profile of the general population with increased intake of such a diet. Epidemiological evidence suggests that dietary flavonoids and nitrate have a cardioprotective effect. Clinical trials with flavonoid- and nitrate-rich foods have shown benefits on measures of vascular health. While the molecular mechanisms by which flavonoids and nitrate are cardioprotective are not completely understood, recent evidence suggests both nonspecific and specific effects through nitric oxide pathways. This review presents an overview of nitric oxide and its key role in cardiovascular health and discusses the possible vascular benefits of flavonoids and nitrate, individually and in combination, through effects on nitric oxide status.
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Flavonoids enhance endothelial function, reduce oxidative stress and stabilise NO intermediates to improve NO bioavailability, and some also stimulate eNOS activity.
“For example, flavonoids enhance endothelial function, reduce oxidative stress and stabilise NO intermediates to improve NO bioavailability, and some also stimulate eNOS activity [87].”
From Dietary Nitrate-Rich Vegetables as Natural Modulators of Health: Mechanisms and Benefits in Ageing Populations (2026) · cites this paper as [87]
Beetroot is one of the richest dietary sources of inorganic nitrate (250-400 mg/100 g fresh weight), depending on agronomic and storage conditions.
“Depending on agronomic and storage conditions, it is also one of the richest dietary sources of inorganic nitrate (250–400 mg/100 g fresh weight) [80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95].”
From Dietary Nitrate-Rich Vegetables as Natural Modulators of Health: Mechanisms and Benefits in Ageing Populations (2026) · cites this paper as [87]
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“For example, flavonoids enhance endothelial function, reduce oxidative stress and stabilise NO intermediates to improve NO bioavailability, and some also stimulate eNOS activity [87].”
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- Authors
- Bondonno, C. P., Croft, K. D., Ward, N., Considine, M. J., & Hodgson, J. M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Venue
- Nutrition Reviews
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-03-24
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 216-235
- ISSN
- 0029-6643 (ISSN-L)
- 1753-4887
- OpenAlex
- W2101216035
- Cited by
- 150
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 1.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nutrition Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention
- Keywords
- dietary flavonoids, dietary nitrate, nitric oxide, vascular function, cardiovascular health, cardioprotection, fruit and vegetable diet, cardiovascular risk, nitric oxide pathway
- MeSH terms
- Cardiovascular Diseases, Cardiovascular System, Diet, Flavonoids, Fruit, Humans, Phytotherapy, Nitrates, Nitric Oxide, Plant Extracts, Vegetables
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