Benefits Of Grapes

BY Muhammad Ubaid # 93639762

Lower blood pressure, reduced heart damage Can a grape-enriched diet prevent the down hill sequence of heart failure after years of high blood’ pressure?

A university of Michigan cardiovascular center study suggests grapes may prevent heart health risk beyond the simple blood-pressure-lowering impact that can come from a diet rich in-fruits and vegetables. The benefits may be the result of the phytochemicals turning on protective process in the genes that reduce damage to the heart muscle.

The study, performed in laboratory rats, was presented at the 2009 experimental biology convention in New Orleans. 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 powdered form, as part of either a high- or low- salt diet. Comparisons were made between rats consuming the grape powder and rats that received a mild dose of a common blood pressure drug. All rats were from a research breed that develops high blood pressure when fed a salty diet. After 18 weeks, the rats that received the grape-enriched diet powder had lower blood pressure, better heart function, ate the same salty diet but didn’t receive grapes. 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 damages as they were in the grape-fed group.

“There are the small changes the diet can bring, but the effect of grape intake on genes can., have a greater impact disease down the road,” said E. Mitchell Seymour , M.S. , who led the research as part of his doctoral work in nutrition science at Michigan state university. He manages the U-M cardiac surgeon Steven boiling, M.D. Heart cells, like other cells in the body, make an antioxidant protein called glutathione, which is one of our first defenders against damaging oxidative stress. High blood pressure causes oxidative stress in the heart and lowers the amount of protective glutathione. However, intake of grapes actually turned on glutathione-regulating genes in the heart and significantly elevated glutathione levels.

This may explain why the hearts of grape-fade animal functioned better and had less damage. Although the current study was supported in part by the California Table Grape Commission, which also supplied the grape powder, the authors note that the commission played no role in the study’s design, conduct, analysis or the preparation of the journal article for publication. Seymour also receives funding from the national research service Award. Boiling said the latest results take research on the health benefits of grapes “a step further” by examining the mechanism impacted by antioxidant-rich grapes. The rats in the study were from a strain called Dahl rats, which have been specially bred to all be susceptible to salt-induced hypertension. The animals are similar to Americans who have elevated blood pressure related to diet, and who develop heart failure over time because of prolonged hypertension.

Each group of 12 rats was fed the same weight of food each day with powdered grapes making up 3 percent of the diet (by weight) for rats that received grapes as part of either a low-salt or high-salt diet. The rats that received hydrazine were fed it through their water supply in a dose that has been previously shown to be effective in reducing blood pressure.-SD