For ASTHMA, the blend of quercetin with bromelain eases asthma symptoms and reduces acute flare-ups, wheeze, cough, and mucus. Quercetin stabilizes mast cells that line airways and trigger the asthma response, comparable to prescription antihistamine and cromoglycate drugs. Bromelain acts as a natural antihistamine and is a proven antioxidant powerhouse with anti-asthmatic activity. Bromelain also boosts the actions of quercetin. Our patients who have taken quercetin and bromelain for years have far fewer and milder asthma episodes.

Quercetin can reduce proliferation and the number of mast cells, a type of white blood cell in bronchial linings. It curbs the mast cells’ release of secretory granules and substances that trigger asthma. In studies, quercetin has been shown to reduce the major symptoms of asthma: bronchial hyperactivity, mucus production, and airway inflammation.

Bromelain has several anti-asthmatic actions. It enhances the absorption and benefits of quercetin. One of its lesser-known benefits is its potential as a natural antihistamine.    Although bromelain is getting attention for its anti-inflammatory benefits, in studies, bromelain inhibits allergic sensitization and asthma via modulation of dendritic cells. Bromelain works by breaking down proteins that cause inflammation and swelling, which can help alleviate symptoms like asthmatic wheezing and tight chest, nasal congestion, and sinus pressure. Bromelain magnifies the antioxidant benefits of quercetin and enhances tissue health. Together, these nutrients can inhibit some of the triggers that cause an asthma response.

What are quercetin and bromelain?

Quercetin is a flavonol, one member of the flavonoid group of plant-based antioxidants that give plants their color. Flavonoids belong to a class of micronutrients called polyphenols, which have powerful health benefits. Quercetin is sometimes referred to as the “master flavonoid” both because it is well-researched, and because it is abundant in dark, vibrant-colored vegetables, fruits, nuts, honey, and medicinal herbs. This flavonoid is naturally found in onions, bell peppers, berries, and green tea. Although there are dietary sources of quercetin, it is hard to consume sufficient quantities of food to reach a therapeutic level. Flavonoids are the most studied class of plant metabolites; the search term “flavonoids” yielded more than 57,300 entries in the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s Medline database accessed using PubMed in December 2011.

Bromelain is a plant-based complex of protein-digesting enzymes originally found in pineapple, also known as proteases, that break down proteins into their constituent amino acids. Because it enhances absorption, bromelain helps to move quercetin from the digestive tract into the bloodstream. A clinically effective dose of bromelain enhances quercetin absorption, and it magnifies the efficacy of quercetin. Bromelain is also a highly effective anti-inflammatory in its own right. It can help to relieve the inflammatory aspects of asthma, ease joint and connective tissue pain, and reduce C-reactive protein, the inflammation marker. Protein is essential for tissue repair, muscle formation, and for every metabolic enzyme in the body, and bromelain also facilitates protein assimilation. Bromelain frees up amino acids, the protein building blocks, so that they are better absorbed.

How does quercetin help asthma?  

• Reduced airway reactivity: Quercetin is a classic remedy for preventing asthma and nasal allergies, which is particularly useful for exercising outdoors or in gyms where triggers such as grass, dust, or air fresheners can lead to reactive airway symptoms. For the respiratory system, quercetin stabilizes the membranes of mast cells, a type of white blood cell, within connective tissues. This discourages mast cells from releasing histamine or inflammatory cytokines that start the allergy or asthma process. The result is protection of the lungs and sinuses against infection and allergies, especially helpful in reducing exercise-induced asthma after outdoor workouts.

  Mast cells have been proposed as an “immune gate to the brain” and are implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory processes, including allergy-induced asthma. Mast cells play an important role in the early and late phases of asthma, as they release several mediators, including histamine, leukotrienes, and cytokines which modulate airway hyperreactivity and inflammation. Immune system stimulation leads to degranulation and the generation of numerous cytokines and inflammatory mediators. These mediators increase smooth muscle cell contraction, epithelial cell permeability, and mucus production. Quercetin is a potent anti-cytokine and chemokine which has an inhibitor effect in conditions mediated by mast cells.¹ In addition, quercetin inhibits the enzyme responsible for the generation of histamine from histidine. This data suggests that quercetin is a good candidate for reducing the release of pro-inflammatory mast cell mediators.² Thus, quercetin demonstrates the potential to modulate the early and late phases of asthma, including mucus production.

• Antioxidant activity: For asthma, quercetin is a potent antioxidant demonstrating promising benefits to lung tissue by scavenging free radicals and reducing tissue and DNA damage, boosting healthy oxygen delivery to all tissues.

  Free radicals are unstable molecules that form when atoms or molecules gain or lose electrons. These unstable free radicals have unpaired electrons, which seek other atoms or molecules to bond to. If they attach to tissues, free radicals cause damage, called oxidative stress. Ongoing oxidative stress can injure lungs, muscles, organs, and cells. Eventually this results in degenerative disorders, slower metabolism, tissue damage, and symptoms of aging such as wrinkles. Exercise generates more free radicals, but quercetin can enhance the body’s mechanisms to remove them and shield tissues from oxidative damage.

  In a recent randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of 66 subjects given quercetin or placebo for 4 weeks, allergic symptoms were significantly improved in the quercetin-containing supplement group as was their reported quality of life.³

• Anti-inflammatory action: Quercetin also can calm and balance the body’s inflammatory pathways, and down-regulate enzymes and hormones responsible for excessive inflammatory responses. While inflammation is critical for tissue repair and for defending against invading microbes, if it becomes overactive, such as in severe episodes of asthma exacerbation, the excess inflammatory activity can contribute to lung epithelial and endothelial cell injury and increase vascular permeability. Interestingly, quercetin-inhibited neutrophil recruitment, expression, and activity both in vivo and in vitro These findings suggest potential beneficial effects of quercetin treatment on asthmatic airway inflammation.⁴
• Bronchodilator effect: Quercetin can help to open airways via its action on fibroblast cells in the lungs. Fibroblasts are the main effector cells important for lung tissue production which becomes abnormal in asthmatics and is one of the main contributors to airway fibrosis. These cells contribute to the progression of bronchial wall remodeling in asthma as they cause repetitive injury to the alveolar-capillary membrane. Fortunately, studies show that quercetin exhibits potent anti-fibrotic effects in the lungs. In addition to modulating airway remodeling in asthmatic patients, quercetin acts as a potent bronchodilator in vitro (on tracheal smooth muscle) and in vivo studies.^5,6  

A notable study concluded: “Quercetin, which has been widely consumed in the diet since the beginnings of human history, has significant biological effects with no known significant adverse side effects. Quercetin demonstrates the potential to reduce the most significant pathologies of asthma, including eosinophil and neutrophil recruitment, bronchial epithelial cell activation, mucus and collagen production, and airway hyperactivity. These results, in association with the low incidence of asthma in individuals with moderate dietary intake levels of quercetin, suggest that quercetin could be used medicinally, either alone or as a complement to other drugs currently used for the treatment of asthma. Additionally, it could also be used as a nutraceutical.”⁷

How does bromelain help with asthma?

Firstly, it enhances quercetin’s assimilation. Quercetin is poorly absorbed, and improving this is essential to receiving the full benefits. Its bioavailability is low, and it can be a challenge to get an adequate amount into our tissues. In contrast, bromelain is easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract in the human body, and it helps ferry the quercetin into our system.

Secondly, bromelain has anti-asthmatic benefits in its own right: It brings natural antihistamine actions that reduce airway reactivity. Bromelain is a powerful antioxidant that curbs free radical damage to lung tissue that can otherwise exacerbate asthma. In recent research, bromelain was found to reduce the development of allergic airway disease, while altering CD4+ to CD8+T lymphocyte populations therefore reducing inflammation. This indicates that these effects of bromelain are useful in the treatment of asthma.⁸

How to improve quercetin’s absorption

Besides combining quercetin with bromelain to boost absorption, phytosome technology has proven invaluable. Phytosome technology is a method of combining a nutrient with other natural plant substances to greatly enhance absorption, and to protect the nutrient from breakdown by gut enzymes. Quercetin is even more effectively assimilated and brings greater benefits in a phytosome form, bonded to sunflower-sourced phospholipids. Because these phospholipids are also chief components of human cell membranes, the phytosome complex they form with quercetin is easily recognized by the body. In addition, quercetin absorption is improved because this phospholipid phytosome complex is protected from destruction by digestive secretions and gut bacteria. The phytosome complex chaperones quercetin highly efficiently across the epithelial cell membrane barrier of the intestine into the bloodstream, so that greater amounts of quercetin reach the tissues, making quercetin much more available for cells to use.

In our clinic, many of our patients with asthma tell us they have less wheezing and coughing, fewer episodes of tight chest and shortness of breath, better exercise capacity, and fewer severe exacerbations. Highly active athletic patients take quercetin in a phytosome form with bromelain for improved performance. They notice better endurance and stamina and reduced joint and muscle inflammation or pain. Interestingly, they report less frequent allergy or asthma symptoms and better respiratory capacity. In addition, they like the ongoing protection against tissue degradation, and the potential benefits for the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and for maintaining youthful skin tone.

Recommendation: Quercetin 500mg in a sunflower phospholipid phytosome complex, with bromelain 200mg, taken once or twice daily, best between meals; or as directed by your healthcare provider.

References