USDA has ranked cooked artichokes number 10 from their list of top 20 antioxidant-rich foods. The study showed that one cup (hearts) of artichoke contains up to 7904 antioxidant capacity per serving size.
The artichoke is popular for its pleasant bitter taste, a property attributed mostly to a plant chemical called cynarin found in the green parts of the plants. Both leaves and heads from artichokes are rich in phenolic compounds belonging to different classes -- benzoic and cinnamic derivatives, flavonoids, and tannins. However, Cynarin is still considered as one of the artichoke’s main biologically active chemicals.
European scientists were the first to document cynarin’s ability to lower cholesterol in human’s in the 1970s. Over the years, other researchers have continued to document artichoke’s effect in this area.
One of the more recent studies, published in 2000, was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. The researchers used an artichoke leaf extract that was standardized to its cynarin content. For six weeks, 143 patients with high cholesterol were given the extract. At the end of the test, results showed a decrease of 10%-15% in total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), and ratio of LDL to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
In 2002, a finding noted that an artichoke leaf extract reversed damage done by harmful chemicals in rat liver cells and, in doing so, enhanced bile production. This became the focus in another 2002 study which aimed to specifically find out the antioxidant effects of artichoke extract in cultured blood vessel cells. The study reported that the extract demonstrated "marked protective properties against oxidative stress induced by inflammatory mediators…"
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