Grapes have long been known for their medicinal and nutritional value. It would be interesting to learn that Egyptians consumed grapes at least 6ooo years ago, and many Greek philosophers praised the benefits of grapes, often in its wine form. Folk healers from Europe used to make an ointment using the sap of grapevines for treating eye and skin diseases. Grape leaves were used for treating conditions, such as inflammation, pain as well as bleeding, usually the kind caused due to hemorrhoids. That’s not all, unripe grapes were largely used to cure sore throats and dried grapes were commonly used as a remedy for constipation and thirst.
Grapes, or the chemicals present within them have long been touted for their powerful antioxidant benefits. It is rightly believed that these could help cure a number of diseases, ranging from aging skin, heart diseases to even cancer, although there no good scientific evidence for most of these claims made. But, there are good evidences that prove that grape seed extracts help in the treatment of edema and chronic venous insufficiency.
Composition Of Grapes
Grape seeds are a rich source of flavonoids, OPCs, Vitamin E and linoleic acid. Slightly reduced concentrations of all these are also present in grape skin and also in grape wine and juice. Resveratrol is another essential compound found in grapes and grape seed extracts and is related to OPCs. Resveratrol has recently gained a lot of popularity owing to its antioxidant properties and is being studied for various health conditions.
Medicinal Uses, Indications And Benefits Of Grape Seed Extract
Today, standardized grape seed extract India may be used to cure a number of health conditions, related to the damage caused by free radicals, including heart diseases, cancer and diabetes. Other common benefits of grape seed extract include protection against bacterial infections. Also the flavonoids, found in red wine may help preserve and promote heart health by lowering LDL (“bad cholesterol”).
However, contrary to the “French Paradox”, drinking alcohol to prevent heart diseases is largely not advocated by the American Heart Association and other reputable organizations, because of the high potential for developing addiction as well as other serious issues, such as increased risk of liver diseases, hypertension, weight gain and breast cancer.
Edema
Edema, which is generally characterized as swelling caused due to an injury or surgery, seems to heal at a faster rate when people take grape seed extract India. This is a common problem that generally results after breast cancer surgery. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study revealed that patients who were given 600 mg of grape seed extract regularly after surgery for 6 months, experienced reduced symptoms of edema and pain as compared to those who took placebo.
Chronic Venous Insufficiency
The main characteristics of Chronic Venous Insufficiency include symptoms like severe pain due to blood pools in legs, followed by swelling, visible veins and fatigue. A number of studies have revealed that OPCs from grape seed extract can help reduce all these symptoms.
High Cholesterol
Although, there is not much of an evidence for grape seed extract benefits for high cholesterol, but preliminary studies do show some promising results. A study was conducted on 40 people, suffering from high levels of cholesterol to identify whether taking chromium, grape seed extract or a combination of both or placebo for a period of 2 months, would result in reduced levels of cholesterol or not. It was seen that a combination of chromium and grape seed extract, showed much more effective results than grape seed extract alone or placebo alone, in lowering LDL cholesterol.
High Blood Pressure
One of the main benefits of grape seed extract is that it is believed to play a beneficial role in treating high blood pressure or hypertension. The antioxidants found in grape seed extract serve to protect the blood vessels from damage, which would otherwise lead to high blood pressure. The results of various animal studies reveal that grape seed extract helps in lowering the blood pressure effectively.