Grapes May Improve Heart Health
If you can’t or don’t want to drink wine, eat grapes instead; an animal study indicates that
grapes may help lower blood pressure and signs of heart muscle damage, and improve heart function.
The researchers studied the effect of regular table grapes (a blend of green, red, and black grapes) that were mixed into the rat diet in a powdered form, as part of either a high- or low-salt diet. They performed many comparisons between the rats consuming the test diet and the control rats receiving no grape powder — including some that received a mild dose of a common blood-pressure drug. All the rats were from a research breed that develops high blood pressure when fed a salty diet.
In all, after 18 weeks, the rats that received the grape-enriched diet powder had lower blood pressure, better heart function, reduced inflammation throughout their bodies, and fewer signs of heart muscle damage than the rats that ate the same salty diet but didn’t receive grapes. The rats that received the blood-pressure medicine, hydrazine, along with a salty diet also had lower blood pressure, but their hearts were not protected from damage as they were in the grape-fed group.
See more details of the study results here. Not entirely surprising, given that the heart-healthy antioxidants in red wine are phytochemicals found in grape skin and seed. Even grape juice has been demonstrated to confer heart health benefits.
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POSTED IN: ~Cardiovascular Health, ~Fruit and Vegetables
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