6 Top Reasons to Try Grape Seed Extract

Made from crushed grape seeds, grape seed extract contains high levels of proanthocyanidins, polyphenols that give grapes their deep red and purple hues. Heralded for its strong antioxidant activity, grape The seed extract has gained popularity as a functional food.

In 2020, the grape seed extract market exceeded $135 million and its compound annual growth rate is expected to reach 7.5% by 2027.^[i]

While that’s partly due to its use in cosmetics, personal care products and other novelty products, such as nanofibers containing grape seed extract powder, which are incorporated into food packaging to prevent oxidation in food Health-conscious consumers are increasingly interested in grape seed extract as a supplement or addition to functional foods and beverages.^[ii] If you are thinking of trying it, these are some of its main benefits.

1. Prevention and Management of Obesity

Multiple actions, including lowering blood lipids, improving intestinal flora, and regulating metabolism, make grape seed extract beneficial for obesity. “It can effectively prevent obesity in many ways,” wrote researchers from the Yangtze University School of Medicine in Jingzhou, China.^[iii]

When consumed along with a calorie-restricted diet, grape seed extract (300 milligrams (mg) daily for 12 weeks) improved cardiovascular risk factors among overweight or obese adults.^[iv] Compared to placebo, levels of beneficial high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were increased in those who consumed grape seed extract, while low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was significantly reduced.

Visceral fat, plasma atherogenic index (a marker of cardiovascular disease), and triglycerides were also significantly decreased in the grape seed extract group.

2. Blood pressure support

grape seed extract It appears to have blood pressure lowering effects as well as heart rate lowering properties.^[v] In healthy adults, consumption of grape seed extract (300 mg daily for 16 weeks) significantly modulated blood pressure compared to placebo.^[vi] while among overweight and obese men, grape seed extract lowered blood pressure at rest and during exercise, via a substantial reduction in aortic stiffness.^[vii]

Even among people with metabolic syndrome, the powerful vasodilator phenolic compounds in grape seed extract were effective in lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to placebo.^[viii] Grape seed extract has also been proposed as an intervention to minimize the potential increase in cardiovascular events that can occur during exercise in people with prehypertension.

While placebo had no effect, grape seed extract, taken as a single dose before exercise, reduced blood pressure, peripheral vasoconstriction, and work of the heart, while improving oxygen delivery among men with prehypertension.^[ix]

3. Stress relief and mood enhancement

Perceived stress and other mental components can have a significant effect on blood pressure. This is why the researchers measured not only the effects of grape seed extract on blood pressure, but also the perception levels of the participants. stress. Grape seed extract led to a surprising benefit for mood related to perceived stress, including a statistically significant reduction in worry.^[x]

Previous research also found that menopausal women who took grape seed extract had a reduction in systolic blood pressure along with improvements in psychological symptoms such as anxiety.^[xi] The mood benefits could be due to the polyphenols in grape seed extract, which are associated with improved mood and cognitive function along with protective effects against brain disease.^[xii]

4. Support dental health

A systematic review of 20 studies revealed that grape seed extract has unique properties that facilitate the prevention of dental caries. In addition to inhibiting bacterial biofilms on tooth surfaces, grape seed extract helped promote dental remineralization, a natural process that helps repair tooth enamel before cavities develop.^[xiii]

Several of grape seed extract’s properties, including being antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory, make it ideal for promoting oral health and managing periodontal disease.^[xiv] A grape seed extract gel also led to significant improvements in gingival and plaque indices in people with chronic periodontitis.^[xv]

5. Improves insulin resistance

Grape seed extract, with its strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, may have several beneficial effects on diabetes, including improving insulin resistance. Among adolescents with metabolic syndrome, consumption of grape seed extract for eight weeks (100 mg daily) improved insulin concentration and insulin resistance.^[xvi]

The polyphenols in grape seed extract also influence neuroregulatory factors and nerve signaling pathways, which may have a beneficial effect on insulin. With respect to diabetesgrape seed extract positively influences enzymes for starch digestion in humans, and also improved the condition of patients with microalbuminuria,^[xvii] an early sign of vascular damage^[xviii] that’s present in about 37 percent of people with type 2 diabetes and often precedes the development of diabetic nephropathy.^[xix]

6. Heart health

In addition to lowering blood pressure, grape seed extract exerts a number of additional benefits for heart health. Research suggests it significantly reduces C-reactive protein (PCR) levels.^[xx] CRP can reveal your risk of developing cardiovascular problems. Grape seed extract also helps prevent atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, by:^[xxi]

• Limit LDL oxidation
• lower blood pressure
• reduce inflammation
• Inhibition of platelet aggregation
• Activating certain proteins, which prevents cell senescence.

Grape seed extract also helps minimize fat accumulation in adipose tissue and even inhibits the absorption of dietary fat through its effects on fat-metabolizing enzymes.^[xxii] Overall, this natural grape compound exerts powerful oxidative stress-reducing effects on the heart, helping to decrease cardiac dysfunction.^[xxiii]

GreenMedInfo.com has compiled an impressive 86 pharmacological actions related to grape seed extract, as well as 190 diseases it can influence.^[xxiv] When taken in moderate amounts, grape seed extract is generally well tolerated, according to the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Human studies lasting up to 11 months also support its safety,^[xxv] but for optimal usage and dosage, consult with your holistic practitioner.