Plant synergies for supplements: Study finds anti-inflammatory remedy
Key takeaways
- A Japanese study found that combining capsaicin with menthol or 1,8-cineole boosts anti-inflammatory effects by several hundred times.
- The synergy of plant-based compounds could offer new possibilities for more effective supplements and functional foods.
- Chronic inflammation is linked to various diseases, and plant compounds could provide a natural remedy with minimal doses.
A Japanese study investigating the synergy between plants found combinations with anti-inflammatory effects. Capsaicin — the main bioactive compound in chili peppers that creates heat — was the most potent anti-inflammatory compound. When combined with menthol or 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), the anti-inflammatory effect increased by several hundred times.
The researchers say the findings suggest new ways to innovate in functional foods, supplements, seasonings, or fragrances, delivering significant effects with small amounts of active ingredients.
Chronic inflammation is one of the main drivers for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, arthritis, and cancer. It often manifests as a “silent process,” without immediate symptoms or pain.
Immune cells release chemicals to fight perceived infections or injury, a process known to be influenced by diet. Various food products, including spices, herbs, and aromatic plants, contain phytochemicals that regulate inflammatory pathways.
Many plant-based compounds have previously shown anti-inflammatory effects in studies, but at concentrations way above what is feasible to consume from a normal diet. This has sparked debate over how anti-inflammatory foods can affect the body’s immune response.
The study notes that the synergistic anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemical combinations and their underlying mechanisms are insufficiently understood.
Botanical synergy
The mechanism behind the synergistic function is explained as “menthol and 1,8-cineole acting through transient receptor potential (TRP) channels and calcium signaling, whereas capsaicin has been suggested to suppress inflammation through a different pathway, independent of TRP.”
The natural compound 1,8-cineole is found in various essential oils, most notably eucalyptus oil.
The study, published in Nutrients, used a gene expression analysis, protein level measurements, and calcium imaging analysis to investigate how these compounds affected key inflammatory biomarkers.
The natural compound 1,8-cineole is found in various essential oils, most notably eucalyptus oil.It found that combining capsaicin with menthol or 1,8-cineole reduced effective concentrations by 699-fold and 154-fold, respectively.
“We demonstrated that this synergistic effect is not a coincidence, but is based on a novel mode of action resulting from the simultaneous activation of different intracellular signaling pathways,” says lead researcher and professor Gen-ichiro Arimura from the Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science.
“This provides clear molecular-level evidence for the empirically known effects of combining food ingredients.”
The findings aim to explain how combining plant compounds can cause biological effects through diet, even at low doses.
It suggests that the health benefits of plant-rich diets may not be attributed to a single food, but rather to the synergy created by interactions among components.
“Specific combinations of plant-derived functional components can markedly enhance anti-inflammatory efficacy, supporting dietary strategies that harness multiple phytochemicals for inflammation control and disease prevention,” the authors conclude.
