Eating grapes reduces blood pressure and inflammation and improves blood flow

Many are the health benefits and beneficial properties exerted by grapes. Grape seeds are rich in vitamin E, flavonoids, linoleic acid, and OPCs (Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins)[3], probably the reason why grape seed extracts have showed to be so effective on the treatment of high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and even heart disease. But grapes are also a rich source of polyphenols, something that has been found to be an even better reason to have them as part of our diets.  Image left: Grapes in the setting sun by Christian Haugen under Creative Common License (CC BY 2.0).

Polyphenols are active constituents present in many fruits and plants, some of them used in multiple traditional herbal remedies, known to interact on different ways against carcinogenesis, tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis and inflammation. They also exert powerful antioxidant properties. In olives polyphenols contribute to give a bitter taste to olives and act also as astringents. Now, a study reveals even more properties are exerted by polyphenols than we thought.

VITIS VINIFERA

Family: Vitaceae
Genus: Vitis
Common name: Common grape vine

Polyphenols play also a very important role on disease prevention and treatment [2]. Green tea is rich in polyphenols and it has been demonstrated that this characteristic  may be the reason why green tea exhibits significant antioxidant, chemopreventive, and immunomodulatory effects in protecting the skin [2].

Polyphenols in grapes are responsible, however, of other properties and health benefits that are worth mentioning. A recent study, led by principla investigator Dr. Maria Luz Fernandes and Jacqueline Barona, a PhD student working at the Department of Nutritional Sciences of the university of Connecticut, carried out to investigate the benefitial effects of grape consumption on heart protetion of people with metabolic syndrome, a combination of medical disorders that, when occurring together, increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes [3], showed how grape polyphenols potentiate vasoralaxation, reducing blood pressure, inflammation and improving the overall vascular function [1]. Image right: Herbcyclopedia free to use under Creative Commons License attribution (CC BY 2.0) with a link to this page.

The study was performed amont 24 men aged 30 to 70 years old, eating either freeze-dried grape polyphenol powder or placebo during a period of 30 days, asking all participants to abstein from consuming polyphenol-rich foods [1].

The results of this study confirm what we all knew, grapes are one of the most wonderful natural sources of active constituents we can add to our diet.

REFERENCES

[1] Grape Polyphenols Reduce Blood Pressure and Increase Flow-Mediated Vasodilation in Men with Metabolic Syndrome.
Barona J, Aristizabal JC, Blesso CN, Volek JS, Fernandez ML.
Department of Nutritional Sciences.

[2] Protective mechanisms of green tea polyphenols in skin.
Oyetakinwhite P, Tribout H, Baron E.
Department of Dermatology, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44106-5028, USA.

[3] Wikipedia article on Metabolic syndrome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome