Grapes: Health Benefits For Your Brain, Bones, Heart And Gut

A recent article in the Journal of Agriculture and Chemistry said that the term “superfood” is tossed about too readily.

“There is no regulation; the main source of information is the Internet,” they wrote.

Nonetheless, they add, there is a food that they believe qualifies: “Based on actual scientific data, grapes have earned what should be a prominent position in the superfood family.”

That includes benefits for our bones, heart, brain, and gut, they added.

Here’s what research says about those, though most say more studies are needed to prove the links are causal:

A 2015 rat study found that rats who’d been fed grapes showed slower bone turnover and improved calcium utilisation, resulting in better overall bone quality.

Another study found that resveratrol, a compound found in red or purple-skinned grapes, improved bone density in postmenopausal women, who are at increased risk of osteoporosis.

They also contain bone-healthy vitamins and minerals like manganese, potassium, and vitamins B, C, and K.

Grapes are rich in polyphenols, antioxidants which might reduce your risk of death by heart disease. These include flavonoids, phenolic acids, and resveratrol.

Grapes also contain phytonutrients like catechins, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, leucoanthocyanidin, quercetin, kaempferol, stilbenes, ellagic acid and hydroxycinnamates, which may help to lower your cholesterol.

A 2017 study involving older adults who took grape extract for 12 weeks found that their attention, memory, and language skills all improved after the trial.

Separate research found that grape juice seemed to boost younger adults’ mood and cognitive ability as little as 20 minutes after consumption.

Some research found that people who ate the equivalent of three servings of grapes a day seemed to increase the presence of certain beneficial gut bacteria.

Speaking to UCLA Health, Dr Zhaoping Li, chief of the university’s division of clinical nutrition, said grapes “also [give] us nutrients that feed our gut bacteria, making the microbiome a much better community of good bacteria while promoting gut health”. That’s thanks in part to their fibre content.