Grapes are super fruit, rich in vitamins and many health benefits. But what about grape seeds? Can you eat grape seeds. This is a question that also arises from my mind because I remember this fruit is rich in nutrients. So, at least the seeds are also splashed with nutrients. Some friends also asked the same thing, so I started to focus on this question. After finding the answer, I want to share with everyone in this article. So, how is the answer to the question “can you eat grape seeds?”, Read on because we are going to talk about grape seeds.
Ok, let’s go straight, grape seeds are seeds that are packed with lots of nutrients in them, so of course we can eat them in moderation to get the most benefits from the seeds. To know more clearly about its benefits and properties as well as facts about grape seeds, keep reading this helpful article.
Table of Contents
Types of Grape Seeds that Can be Eaten
If we say that grape seeds are edible, then what kind of grapes are they or all grapes can be eaten as seeds. It is true, that all grape seeds can be eaten such as concord grapes, black grapes, and red grapes. Grape seeds are rich in nutrients, especially antioxidants, which are good for preventing cancer and fighting free radicals in the body. Among the best wines are those that are more colorful like red grapes, the taste of the seeds is stronger.
The taste of grape seeds is a bit bitter, the bitter the taste, the better it is for health. The bitter taste of grape seeds is due to the high content of nutrients such as flavonoids and polyphenols. So to avoid the bitter taste of the grape seeds, we only need to eat with whole grapes. So, when eating grapes we don’t need to remove the seeds, chew and crush the seeds with our teeth and swallow with the grapes.
Apart from consuming grape seeds as a whole, we can get the health benefits of grape seeds by consuming grape seed extract and grape seed essential oil.
The best grapes are organic grapes that are grown without the aid of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Clean the grape skins to remove any residual pesticides or toxins and then eat. Ingesting grape seeds is not good in terms of getting the nutrients. So, chew the seeds and swallow them with the grapes.
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Why are Grape Seeds Good for Health?
Grape seeds are a storehouse of antioxidants, as we said earlier, these antioxidant compounds are very good for health such as preventing premature aging, preventing cancer, wrinkled skin, and others. The content of oligomeric proanthocyanidins complexes (OPCs) is proof that grape seeds are rich in antioxidants. Apart from that, grape seeds are also rich in other nutrients such as vitamin E, vitamin A, omega 3, flavonoids and linoleic acid.
The University of Maryland Medical Center, states that OPCs are known to be the best antioxidants, which are very effective as drugs. This is because OPCs are stronger than vitamins C and E.
So, now that you know “whether grape seeds can be eaten or not”, then don’t skip the seeds every time you eat grapes. If you can regularly eat grape seeds, then you will get many unexpected health benefits such as far from cancer, good for digestion and others.
Grape Seed Health Benefits
Below we will mention a few of the benefits of eating grape seeds for health so that we are interested in trying them.
1. Treats varicose veins and swelling (edema)
One of the health benefits of grape seed is to treat varicose veins or edema. Grape seeds with OPC content will provide benefits for capillaries so that blood flow becomes smooth. Grape seeds can also make blood vessels more flexible, thereby reducing edema due to fluid retention.
2. Reducing the risk of heart disease
Grape seeds contain flavonoids, the benefits of flavonoids are to keep our heart healthy. This substance will fight the presence of bad cholesterol in the blood. OPCs are also useful in lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol (LDL)
Another benefit is to strengthen the walls of blood vessels so they avoid heart attacks. If a blood vessel breaks or is damaged, a heart attack will occur.
3. Fight cancer
The benefits of grape seeds are against cancer. Indeed, this benefit has not been proven by scientific research. However, in a recent study on grape seeds, it was found that grape seeds have anti-cancer properties.
In the study, it was stated that grape seed was good for preventing diseases such as breast, lung, prostate and colon cancer. Another benefit is to maintain liver health rather than the bad effects of chemotherapy.
Other Benefits of Grape Seeds for Health
Here are some other benefits that can be obtained from diligently consuming grape seeds.
- Depression medication
- Improve vision at night
- Prevent premature aging
- Control blood sugar and reduce the risk of diabetes
- Treating Alzheimer’s disease
- Guarding women against atherosclerosis
How to Enjoy Grape Seeds?
The best way to consume grape seeds is to eat them directly. If you don’t like it because it tastes a bit bitter, you can consume grape seed in the form of an essential oil or extract. You can consume it according to the daily dose. To get it, you can get it at the online shop.
How to choose the best grape seed extract
- Look for grape seed extract that contains 92% or 95% OPCs.
- Taking grape seed supplements must be at the same time every day, because only about 30% of the active components remain in the body.
- If you are buying it for the purpose of other health benefits, look for it to contain other types of antioxidants.
- Smokers should take 100 mg of grape-seed supplement 3 times a day.
- The dose for adults (19 years and over) should consume 100 mg per day. To reap the therapeutic benefits of grape seeds, you can double the dosage to 200 mg.
- For children between 1 and 8 years of age, you should seek medical advice before giving this supplement.
Note: Infants and nursing mothers and pregnant women are not recommended to use this supplement. Remember, don’t use it wrong
Now grape seed extract is available in various forms such as tablets, capsules, or in liquid form. Grape seed extract is not recommended for children, if you want to provide grape nutrition then give them natural grapes.
Use Grapeseed Oil for Cooking
Grapeseed oil is not only used as an extract or essential oil. However, it can also be used as cooking oil by squeezing grape seeds on a large scale. Based on information from Dr. Axe, that grapeseed oil can withstand higher heat levels, in contrast to olive oil which is slightly below the hot point of grapeseed oil. So, it can be used for frying or other cooking purposes for more safely.
Specifically, grapeseed oil has a hot point of 485 F. This is very important because we can use grapeseed oil for cooking without fear of losing nutrients at hotter rates. This means that using grape oil is safer in cooking, because even if you use high heat, the food is still of high quality and nutrition is still maintained.
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In addition, grapeseed oil is rich in omega 6 fatty acids which are good enough to fight bad cholesterol and inflammation.
Tips for Buying
If you buy grapeseed oil, pay attention to buying tips. Choose a dark bottle, this is important to keep the oil fresh. If the bottle is not dark, the oil will easily be exposed to light and can change.
Never buy grapeseed oil that is packaged in plastic bottles as this can cause the chemicals in the bottles to break down and mix with grapeseed oil.
While storage should be in a cool dark place, this will prolong its freshness, and can even last up to 6 months. Storing in the refrigerator is the best option. If you find that the smell has changed or is not fresh anymore, this indicates that your oil is rotten.
