As a kid I loved fruits and yogurt. Every day I would try to convince my parents to let me eat fruits instead of vegetables for dinner. Happy as they were for my healthy obsession, they still wanted me to eat my vegetables and grains so I could have “cleaner blood and a healthy heart”.

A study conducted under Dr. Mitchell Seymour, professor at Michigan State University shows the beneficial effects of grapes on cardiovascular issues. In this research, lab rats with high blood pressure (induced by a high salt diet) were put under three diets. One group was a control so they were given nothing, one was given the normal blood pressure medication hydrazine, and the last was given powdered grapes (containing normal green, red, and black table grapes). The researchers also compared rats with low salt diets to rats with low salt diets plus the grape powder.

After 18 weeks of the diet, heart activity and anatomy was checked. Rats fed grapes had lower blood pressure, higher heart activity, lower inflammation, higher cardiac output, lower oxidative damage, and molecular markers for cardiac stress. The hydrazine on the other hand simply lowered the blood pressure but did not provide any of the other long-term benefits provided by grapes.

The key to these long-term healthy heart benefits found in grapes is said to be the antioxidants they contain. Although the results of the rat study don’t directly apply to humans, the holistic changes found in the rats are applicable. The study provides enough evidence to justify further clinical studies pertaining to the effect of grapes on heart health in humans.

Discussion Question: Which other fruits can be beneficial to provide antioxidants?

News Article: http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=799