A study funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and carried out at the University of Michigan in the US has found a link between grape consumption and reduced heart failure.
The research, which has been published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, demonstrated that grapes were able to reduce heart failure associated with chronic high blood pressure by increasing gene activity and boosting antioxidant defence in heart tissue, Newswise reported.
According to researchers, grapes influence gene activities and metabolic pathways that improve glutathione levels, the most abundant cellular antioxidant in the heart.
'Our earlier studies showed that grapes could protect against the downward spiral of hypertensive heart failure, but just how that was accomplished – the mechanism – was not yet known,' noted lead investigator Mitchell Seymour. 'The insights gained from our study, including the ability of grapes to influence several genetic pathways related to antioxidant defence, provides further evidence that grapes work on multiple levels to deliver their beneficial effects.'
