Research Shows “Remarkable” Impacts of Grape Consumption on Health and Lifespans

In large studies recently published in the journal Foods, long-term addition of grapes to the diet of mice was reported to lead to unique patterns of gene expression, reduce fatty liver, and extend lifespan in animals consuming a high-fat Western diet. The research team was led by Dr. John Pezzuto of Western New England University.

Pezzuto, the author of more than 600 articles in the scientific literature, said he was especially amazed by these results. “We’ve all heard the saying ‘you are what you eat,’ which is obviously true, as we all start as fetuses and end up as adults by eating food. But these studies add a whole new dimension to that old saying. Not only does food become parts of our bodies, but as our work with diet grapes demonstrates, it actually changes our genetic expression. That is truly remarkable.”

What is the effect of this altered gene expression? As shown in this work, fatty liver is prevented or delayed. Fatty liver is a condition that affects around 25% of the world’s population and can lead to adverse effects over time, including liver cancer. The genes responsible for the development of fatty liver were beneficially altered by the consumption of grapes. In the auxiliary work, not only the expression of genes is altered, but the dietary grapes also modify the metabolism. This study was recently published by a collaborative team led by Dr. Jeffrey Idle in the journal Food and Function.

In addition to genes linked to fatty liver, the work found that grape-supplemented diets increased levels of antioxidant genes. According to Pezzuto, “Many people think of taking dietary supplements that have high antioxidant activity. However, in fact, you may not consume enough antioxidant to make much of a difference. But if you change the level of antioxidant gene expression, as we saw with grapes added to the diet, the result is a catalytic response that can make a real difference.”

Another remarkable effect demonstrated in this research was the ability of grapes to extend the lifespan of mice that were fed a high-fat, Western-pattern diet. The high-fat Western pattern diet is known to be associated with adverse conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, cancer and[{” attribute=””>Alzheimer’s disease. Adding grapes to the diet, which did not affect the rate of consumption or body weight, delayed natural death. Although translating years of lifespan from a mouse to a human is not an exact science, Pezzuto notes that his best estimate is the change observed in the study would correspond to an additional 4-5 years in the life of a human.

Precisely how all of this relates to humans remains to be seen, but it is clear that adding grapes to the diet changes gene expression in more than just the liver. In studies recently published in the journal Antioxidants by Pezzuto and his team of researchers, it was found that grape consumption alters gene expression in the brain. At the same time, grape consumption had positive effects on behavior and cognition that were impaired by a high-fat diet, suggesting that the alteration of gene expression was what produced this beneficial response. More studies are needed, but it is notable that a team led by Silverman at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) reported that the daily administration of grapes had a protective effect on brain metabolism. This new research indicates that this is due to alteration of gene expression.

References:

“Consumption of Grapes Modulates Gene Expression, Reduces Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, and Extends Longevity in Female C57BL/6J Mice Provided with a High-Fat Western-Pattern Diet” by Asim Dave, Eun-Jung Park, Avinash Kumar, Falguni Parande, Diren Beyoğlu, Jeffrey R. Idle and John M. Pezzuto, 5 July 2022, Foods.
DOI: 10.3390/foods11131984

” Addition of grapes to both a standard and a high-fat Western pattern diet modifies hepatic and urinary metabolite profiles in the mouse” by Diren Beyoğlu, Eun-Jung Park, Adolfo Quiñones-Lombraña, Asim Dave, Falguni Parande, John M. Pezzuto and Jeffrey R. Idle, 20 July 2022, Food & Function.
DOI: 10.1039/D2FO00961G

“Effect of Dietary Grapes on Female C57BL6/J Mice Consuming a High-Fat Diet: Behavioral and Genetic Changes” by Falguni Parande, Asim Dave, Eun-Jung Park, Christopher McAllister and John M. Pezzuto, 18 February 2022, Antioxidants.
DOI: 10.3390/antiox11020414

The grapes used in these studies were provided by the California Table Grape Commission, who partially supported the work as well. Kathleen Nave, president of the commission, noted that the grape growers of California are proud to have supported grape research at over 70 institutions throughout the US and the world for over 20 years. She stated that “Grape growers in California have had the privilege of supporting scores of projects over the years. Some studies have shown positive effects on health, and others have not been as promising. The results reported by John Pezzuto and his team are exciting and rewarding on many levels. The potential for improvements in human health is significant as is the strength of the data which logically supports the need for follow-up work in human clinical trials. All of this is rewarding to the growers who have funded research year after year with the sole objective of following the science and learning what we could from high caliber peer-reviewed research. Studies like the ones reported here are not only rewarding to grape growers and of interest to the scientific community, but are of value to everyone who wants to optimize their health and understands that what we eat matters. We can’t ask for more than that.”