Terpenes Health Benefits & Food Sources
Terpenes have been known for many years as an important plant phytochemical, that have both potential health benefits and medicinal uses. Traditional medicines used terpenes, in the modern medicinal world many terpenes are recognised to have antiviral properties. Some terpenes also have anti-septic and pro-digestive properties too.
Phytochemicals like terpenes play a defensive role in plants. In their evolution, terpenes have been essential to the survival of higher plants. It is safe to assume that most of the effects that are seen in plants are transferrable to humans and against pathogens. This is a mechanism by which symbiotic ecosystem relationships develop.
While terpenes provide protection to plants against insects, they are of interest to organic farmers as a potential insecticide. They attract beneficial insects such as pollinators too. While synthetic mimickers might have harmful effects, natural terpenes seem to be a safe active compound.
To gain more of an understanding terpenes and their potential health benefits, weโve put together this informative article.
Food Sources Of Terpenes
Higher plants, conifers and eucalyptus all contain high quantities of terpenes. Terpenes are also found in citrus fruits such as lemon, orange and mandarin. There are also terpenes present in herbs, like thyme and tea leaves. Curcumin is also a really popular terpene spice. Terpenes form a major constituent of various plant essential oils and extracts.
Because terpenes are plant molecules, it is easy to increase the intake of terpenes from your diet by eating more citrus fruits, or for example using cooking herbs such as thyme in your food. Some well used terpene compounds include menthol, limonene and camphor. New terpenes are being discovered all the time, with some being more potent in their effects than others.
Anti-Microorganismal Effects Of Terpenes
Terpenes are often antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic and antimicrobial compounds. This means they could have a range of potential effects on your gut microbiome and also your resistance to infections. This makes a lot of sense given their role in plants as a deterrent against harmful organisms.
Terpenes interfere with microbes through their ability to cause cell rupturing and preventing protein synthesis. Some well known anti-microbial terpenes include geraniol, thymol, carvone and eugenol. They can cause the disruption of microbial multiplication and disrupt their activities. This is why so many plant essential oils have antimicrobial effects.
Terpenes like limonene have been investigated for their complimentary use with antibiotics with a lot of success. The terpene hinokitiol shows anti-fungal effects against aggressive fungal strains, seemingly without effecting higher animal cells. These are interesting developments against threats to global human wellbeing such as antibiotic resistance and aggressive fungi.
Eugenol is another terpene that has been investigated a lot with reference to antimicrobial activity. Thymol also shows a similar activity, while some terpenes have stronger anti-microbial effects than some antibiotic drugs.
The strength of anti-microbial effects of terpenes vary depending on the chemical form produced by the plant. Certain environmental stresses can also interfere with the production of terpenes in plants to increase their production.
Antioxidant Health Benefits Of Terpenes
While terpenes are a major defensive compound for plants, terpenes also protect plants from free radical damage and provide antioxidative protection. This is quite important, considering the high energy reactions that can occur within plants when producing energy.
Limonene makes a large majority of the total terpenoids in citrus fruits such as mandarin and orange. There are even important terpenes like limonene in the peels of certain fruits, as obtained from their essential oils. That is how important the regular production and distribution of terpenoids is in certain sweet fruits. Essential oil of the spice cinnamon has cinnamaldehyde in it. This compound has an incredibly strong effect on neutralizing damaging free radicals.
Terpenes And Cancer
Cancers result from DNA or cellular alterations that go unchecked by the body, these radical induced damages are usually mitigated by antioxidant compounds like terpenes. Some of the less well-known terpenes, like citronellol, had a more powerful antioxidant effect on certain colon and rectum cancers that other terpenoids. These compounds were shown to significantly reduce cytotoxicity from these cancers.
Essential oils from citrus fruits such as mandarin, high in the terpene limonene, show powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities. Of all the known terpenes limonene has among the most known antioxidant effects. Limonene is also abundant in sweet orange essential oil, which improved antioxidant status in one animal study.
Common terpenes like limonene, myrcene, bakuchiol, linalool, ฮฑ-Terpineol, carvacrol and myrtenal all have potential beneficial effects on different cancer cells. Each terpene displays different effects on cancer cells from controlled cell death, reductions in cancer cell growth, survival and cancer cell invasion. Specifically, linalool has significant effects on reducing ovarian cancer, while bakuchiol has anti-cancer effects in the stomach.
Antioxidant status is really important for cellular survival and regulating normal cell cycles that prevent the development or spread of cancers. This effect was seen with lung cancer, where the terpene limonene demonstrated dose dependent inhibition of cancerous cell growth. Limonene also stimulated targeted cancer cell death. These studies emphasise the potential health benefits of terpenes. Eating the right foods, rich in antioxidants like terpenes, can protect from risks of developing cancer.
Health benefits Of Terpenes Throughout The Body
Not surprisingly, the antioxidant effects of terpenes can extend to other bodily ailments. These include heart diseases, blood vessel circulation disorders and brain or nerve degeneration diseases. Terpenes have been looked into for their potential to reduce hypertension through their antioxidant ability. The limonene fraction of certain essential oils is also thought to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Inflammatory diseases are increasingly common in society and terpenes have been shown to have potential to help in the prevention and treatment of these. Uncontrolled and constant inflammation or mis-regulated inflammatory responses lead to chronic inflammatory diseases. This can cause permanent damage in the body.
From skin dermatitis and arthritis to nerve cell inflammation, terpenes show a benefit to promoting positive health outcomes. For example, hinokitiol might be able to provide a therapy for inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis.
As an extension to this, terpene compounds might also be useful for their anti-allergic activities. Some terpenoids have effects on histamine release, which is heavily implicated in allergies. Terpenoids have been shown to enter the skin and could therefore be used as a topical cream or oil. These studies also further emphasise the potential health benefits of terpenes.
The widely unknown effects of all the various terpenes, including the trace ones, found in fruits, herbs, spices and vegetables are being researched for their influences on our health.
Conclusion
Terpenes have formed a massive part of plant evolution and are plant defensive compounds. They protect against insects and also microorganisms. These effects seem to have many benefits to humans from use as organic pesticides to mediating cancer prevention.
Terpenes seem to be strong antioxidants. This is how they seem to display their beneficial effects on both cancer development and also cancer prevention. There are a number of more well known terpenes like linalool and limonene, present in citrus fruit extracts and oils. These have been the most researched for their benefits on the development of cancers.
As a result of this incredible antioxidant activity, terpenes are also being looked at for their effects on blood vessel diseases and brain protecting effects. Terpenes might even be able to assist with reducing the effects of skin inflammatory diseases.
If you are looking to increase your intake of terpenes then you should look to add more herbs or citrus fruits into your diet. These include orange, mandarin, lemon, curcumin and thyme.
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