Protects and Enhances Memory
For the placebo group, results showed significant metabolic decline in brain areas affected in early stage Alzheimer's. In contrast, those taking the grape powder showed no significant decline in metabolism, and in two brain regions they exhibited an increase which correlated with improvements in their attention and working memory, an effect not observed in the placebo group. According to lead investigator Dr. Daniel Silverman, "The study examines the impact of grapes as a whole fruit versus isolated compounds and the results suggest that regular intake of grapes may provide a protective effect against early decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease." Note: These findings argue for eating whole foods, not just extracts or isolated compounds like resveratrol. Dr. Silverman adds, "This pilot study contributes to the growing evidence that supports a beneficial role for grapes in neurologic and cardiovascular health...."Wide-Ranging Brain Benefits
Pamela Mayer, senior staff scientist for the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in La Jolla, California, explained the brain-healthy benefits of grapes in the book Grapes and Health published in 2016. She writes that since there are so many regions of the brain that can fall prey to losses in function, treatments that have multiple biological activities and can focus on different targets in the brain could be the best therapeutic option. "Grapes provide one such treatment." Dr. Mayer explains that studies in both humans and animals show freeze-dried grape powder, grape seed extract and grape juice all positively impact brain function via reduced free radicals, improved signaling, lowered inflammation, better vascular function and less clumping of proteins. If you prefer actual fresh grapes rather than a powder, juice or supplement, then red or purple varieties have the most polyphenols. But you will need to consume them regularly to benefit. In fact, you’d have to consume more than two cups a day, every day, to match the doses in the University of California study. As senior consultant neurosurgeon Dr. Randhir Kumar puts it: "Eating grapes once in while is not going to work. The trick is to adopt grapes in our daily diet and consume them consistently. Only then will there be long term neurological and cardiovascular benefits."- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27856335
- Grapes & Health ed. JM Pezzuto, Springer 2016
