by Dan-N on December 7, 2009
When it comes to superfruits like Acai, muscadines and resveratrol – you often see claims about how these fruits can help with cardiovascular function or cholesterol levels. What is interesting is that very few sites actually get into the science of how these fruits can work their magic. Let’s dig a little deeper…
I Guess Scientific Names Sound Better than “Fruit Filling”
You know all that stuff that make up a fruits – we call it pulp, fruit filling or fruit stuff – but that is not very scientific and way too easy to pronounce. Here are some technical terms for all the good stuff in fruit…
- Plants and Fruits are made up of stuff! The broad term for the top level components in plants and fruits are Polyphenols. There are over 10,000 different Polyphenols in the plant kingdom.
- Because biologist love to classify things, there are groups that fall under Polyphenols. Flavonoids are a large group of components in the Polyphenol class. So, while there are thousands of different flavonoids, all flavonoids are part of the larger Polyphenol grouping.
- You like words you can’t pronounce? How about Proanthocyanidins (or oligomeric proanthocyanidins or OPC) or Anthocyanins? These are things that fall under the Flavonoid group. Isn’t biology fun?
We will stop there – not because the classifications end, but just because we realize your finger is probably just about to hit the close button on your browser!
Going to a party and want to impress everyone with your knowledge of Resveratrol? Try this one out on them –
Resveratrol is a phytoalexin. Phytoalexins are flavonoids. All flavonoids are Polyphenols. So, Resveratrol is a phytoalexin, flavonoid and polyphenol!
What Does Any of This Have to Do With How Fruits Help With Cholesterol?
Sorry, the boring biology lesson on terms that no one can pronounce is now over. What is important to take away from the above is that fruits, and especially superfruits like Muscadine and Acai, are packed with all these nutrients and antioxidants. Many of the polyphenols in Acai and Muscadine are powerful antioxidants. Resveratrol, anthocyanins, OPCs – all powerful antioxidants.
How Do Antioxidants Help With Cholesterol?
I am sure you have hear about the “good and bad” cholesterol. It is generally accepted that LDL Cholesterol is the bad cholesterol and HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol. While on a simple level this is true, it is actually a little bit more complicated when it comes to when LDL Cholesterol starts causing real health issues.
Oxidized LDL Cholesterol – The Really Bad Cholesterol
What is worse than having high levels of LDL Cholesterol? Having high levels of Oxidized LDL Cholesterol! Oxidized LDL Cholesterol is exactly what its name suggests, LDL cholesterol that has been attacked by free radicals and becomes oxidized. Numerous studies have found a strong correlation between high levels of oxidized LDL cholesterol and heart disease. In fact, the correlation between Oxidized LDL Cholesterol and heart disease is much stronger than the correlation between LDL cholesterol (not oxidized) and heart disease. Clearly, you want to do what you can to avoid Oxidized LDL Cholesterol.
How All Fruits (including Acai and Muscadine Grapes) Can Help
Nobody eats food that has Oxidized LDL Cholesterol. We eat foods with LDL Cholesterol and the oxidation happens inside our body due to free radicals. Fruits are high in antioxidants and superfruits like Acai and Muscadine Grapes are really high in antioxidants. It is the antioxidants in fruits that can help battle the free radicals and give you the best chance of keeping LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and becoming really bad cholesterol!
People often think of antioxidants helping with skin tone, the immune system or general energy levels and while this is all correct, they can really help on a much deeper level. Oxidation does not just lead to skin spots and other skin issues, oxidation works on a cellular level and can cause serious health issues. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants is one of the best ways to keep oxidation in check, keep LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and sure, it can help your skin look better to!
Our Standard Disclaimer – We Are Not Giving Medical Advice
Nothing we say here should be taken as medical advice. We are not making any health claims about what a fruit can do for you. Simply, we believe a healthy diet, rich in fruits, can provide benefits. If you have any specific medical questions you should consult with your doctor. High oxidized LDL Cholesterol levels and heart disease are very serious issues and you should work with your doctor to correct any issues you may have.
by Dan-N on November 23, 2009
Quick post today – just wanted to answer a question we have been getting a lot since we started talking about muscadine grapes. A lot of readers have asked what we thought of using muscadine jelly to receive the health benefits of the muscadines .
We do think that getting more muscadines into your diet is always a good thing, so sure – using muscadine grape jelly in place of regular grape jelly is a fine idea. The only problem is that muscadine jam, muscadine jelly or muscadine wine does NOT use the muscadine seed. This is very significant from a health benefits standpoint since the muscadine seed contains many of the nutrients that make muscadines so healthy.
Why is the Muscadine Seed So Important?
Muscadine seeds contain resveratrol, fiber and other phytonutrients that are NOT found in large quantities in the muscadine skin or pulp. If you take a look at any recipe for muscadine jelly, you will see that they for the seeds to be removed and only the skin and pulp of the muscadines is used.
So Muscadine Jelly Will Not Make Me Superhuman?
Sorry, no. But we don’t want to sell muscadine jelly too short – it still has things like ellagic acid and other key nutrients that are found in the muscadine pulp. If you want to get the full health benefits of the muscadine grape, we recommend you use a quality muscadine supplement that uses the whole grape – skin, seed and pulp.
by Dan-N on November 19, 2009
We sure like to put the word “super” in front of anything in this industry. Superfoods, SuperFruits, SuperSize …whoops – that one is for the fast food industry! Around this time of year you hear a lot of talk about what will be the top SuperFood of 2010. Of course, that question would be easier to answer if we could all agree on a definition for superfoods.
What is a SuperFood Anyway?
Here is how Wikipedia defines a SuperFood -
Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that may confer health benefits as a result.
That clears it all up, right? No, such a broad definition of SuperFood would make almost any fruit, by definition a SuperFood. When every fruit can fall into a definition, that definition loses any significance. If every fruit is a superfood or superfruit, what makes one fruit more super than the next???
How Does the FDA Define SuperFoods and SuperFruits
They don’t! It is important to understand that there is no legal definition of SuperFoods or SuperFruits. There is no science to apply to a food and determine if it is a super food. As far as the FDA is concerned, all this talk about Superfoods is just marketing.
What About Acai, Muscadines, Resveratrol, Noni, etc. – I thought they were SuperFoods?
We do believe that Muscadine Grapes, Acai Berries and Resveratrol all have super nutritional profiles and some impressive health benefits. So, it seems fair to call these elite fruits SuperFoods – and almost everyone does. However, if you twist our arm and ask us what scientific formula we use to determine if a food makes it to SuperFood status – we have a one word answer – Oprah!
[click to continue…]
by Dan-N on September 9, 2009
Think if you have seen one grape you have seen them all? You must have never seen the muscadine grape! Muscadine Grapes grown in not so exotic places like – Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama. These are not the type of places we normally find SuperFruits – but the research does not lie, Muscadines are super!
What Makes Muscadine Grapes Different?
Muscadine grapes are larger and stronger than traditional grapes – but the difference is not just skin deep (terrible pun intended). Muscadines actually have an extra pair of chromosomes. Normal grapes have 19 pairs of chromosomes, while Muscadine grapes have 20 chromosomes. It is believe that this extra set of chromosomes is what allows Muscadine grapes to produce phytochemicals that are not found in any other grape.
Ellagic Acid – the Secret Sauce in the Muscadine Grape
It is believed that the extra pair of chromosomes in the muscadine grapes is the reason that muscadines contain ellagic acid. Ellagic acid is not found in any other grape, so this is one of the reasons the muscadine grape is considered a super grape.
Why is Ellagic Acid so important? There are numerous studies underway investigating the role ellagic acid can play in cancer prevention. Ellagic acid may aide in chemoprevention. Chemoprevention is a term that means to chemically prevent cancer from occurring, growing or metastasizing. There is great interest in chemoprevention (not to be confused with chemotherapy) because it may be the best way to fight cancer, stop it from growing before it reaches a level that causes problems.
The NIH, Muscadine Grapes and Prostate Cancer
While many superfruits and supplements have sound logic behind them, they often do not have sound science to backup their claims. Muscadine grapes have incredible science to backup their claims…
“Although MSKE [muscadine grape skin extract] has significant inhibitory effects on the prostate cancer cell lines, it did not alter the growth variables of normal human primary prostate cells. This strongly suggests that the effects of MSKE may be specific for transformed cells, even at early stages, and that MSKE may be potentially very useful as a chemopreventive agent. Muscadine grape products, including grape juice (given 4 mL/kg twice daily for 14 days) and grape wine (given isocalorically at 240 mL/day) have been used in human studies without reported toxicities, further suggesting that MSKE may be relatively safe in clinical trials. Therefore, MSKE may be useful as a chemopreventive or therapeutic agent. Ongoing in vivo studies of MSKE will further address the potential effects of MSKE in preventing or inhibiting prostate cancer growth.“
National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Health Study
It is clear that the Muscadine grape has very strong science behind it.
What else can Muscadine Help With?
Muscadine is much more than just a great source of Ellagic acid. Muscadine grapes have 6 times the resveratrol as red grapes. In addition, muscadines have more antioxidants than red grapes and they are packed with phytonutrients. We will do a whole separate post on the health benefits of the muscadine grape – but in short it can help increase energy, regulate blood sugar, reduce free radicals, help the body build and repair, and increase mental clarity.
How Come Muscadine Grapes Are Not More Popular?
It is a sad secret of this industry, companies love selling fruits from far away places with mythical stories. Supplement companies want to tell you a small tribe lives in some remote rain forest and eats Super Berry X and they all live to be 130 years old.
Muscadine does not have the “sex” appeal of coming from an exotic land. What Muscadine does have is more science and clinical data than 99% of the superfruits being pushed on consumers. We will continue to explore the Muscadine grape and let you know what we find out.
Additional Resources:
Muscadine Wines – Can they StandUp to Traditional Wines?
Special Report on Muscadine Grapes
Special Report on Resveratrol
More Information on Perfect ResGrape Resveratrol – Whole Food Muscadine Supplement
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