What Is Grape Seed Extract?

So what is grape seed extract and why should you care? These are great questions because this may be one of the most important alternative health medicines available.

Grapes have been used for centuries and historians believed that their roots began around the Caspian Sea, which is the largest lake in the world which is north of Iran and south of Russia.

Of course grapes and wines go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact archeologists believe that the first uses of wine were around the country of Georgia near the Caspian Sea or northern Iran in 7,000 BCE. The BCE stands for before Common Era which is the same thing as BC that means before Christ.

Grape seed extract didn't really see a movement until people started seeing the health benefits of this substance. To make a long story short a bunch of sailors nearly died of scurvy. It's a condition in which someone doesn't get enough Vitamin C.

Native Americans saved their lives by making a tea from pine bark. A researcher saw this story then did some research and discovered something called OPC's that was also in grapes. OPC's in grapes were also more potent than in pine bark.

So what the heck is OPC's? In a nutshell they are found in certain plants for instance blueberries contain them, green tea, pine bark, grapes, cranberries and some others.

OPC's are very helpful and in fact they support every system in the human body and are basically an antioxidant. The other antioxidant that you probably have heard about is resveratrol since it is more popular.

The funny thing is that there are more OPC in grapes and wine than resveratrol. To give you the low down on what makes resveratrol so popular is because it can activate the SIRT 1 gene and slows caloric absorption.

In theory when someone consumes fewer calories they produce fewer free radicals that do damage to their body. This in turn allows them to live longer and studies on rats, worms and fungi prove it.

Another nifty benefit of eating grapes has to do with the French Paradox. No it's not a science fiction series that involve the French. The French paradox is the fact that many French people don't suffer from heart disease even though they eat so much saturated fats.

Remember doctors believe that saturated fat is a big contributor to heart attacks and other health issues. Some scientists believe that the reason for this paradox is because the French drink so much wine.

Studies also support that grapes can prevent hardening of the arteries and prevent heart disease. Other benefits include improving the immune system, protecting the brain, fighting cancer and much more.

You might be thinking that grape seed extract is wonderful but are there any negative side effects. Like nearly all alternative health herbs there could be interactions with prescription drugs for instance like blood thinners.

Also there have been limited studies on humans so a few of the benefits like making humans live much longer may not be accurate. In conclusion this alternative medicine is awesome and I consume it.

The best way to take grape seed extract is with a dietary supplement. The dietary supplement industry can be tremendously helpful, confusing and also can be harmful.

The reason these products can be harmful is because companies don't even have to test a product to see if it's safe and many products have been recalled for being dangerous.

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