Grape Seed Extract - Learning the Truth About Its Benefits

Grapes of different varieties are widely distributed all over the world. Certain types of grapes are found native in Asia near the Caspian Sea. However, they were transported to North American and Europe. Grapes grow in vines. Their leaves are highly distinguishable because it is large and jagged. Going to its stem, the bark range from green to brown that tends to peel. Apart from the common purple grapes, the fruit could also be seen with the shades of red and green.

It comes from whole grape seeds that have been processed to produce such industrial derivative. This extract is well known in the pharmaceutical world because it contains high concentrations of Vitamin E (an antioxidant), linoleic acid (an essential fatty acid), flavonoids (also called Vitamin P that helps prevent cancer, diarrhea, and stabilizes blood flow), and OPCs (oligomeric proanthocyanidin is a class of flavonol that acts as an antioxidant)

Grape Seed Extract is highly beneficial to the body because it is helps fight cancer (anticarcinogenic), helps protects cells from harmful chemicals or stimuli (cytoprotective), protects the body from free radicals (antioxidant), and exerts vascular activity. In addition to that, it also inhibits proteolytic enzymes, causing collagen stabilization

Because of these activities in the body, it is widely used by to prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease, and dental carries. Furthermore, it is also recommended to people who need treatment of venous insufficiency, edema, and allergic rhinitis.

Grape seed, being a natural gift of nature, is generally considered safe for the young and old. However, special precautions are needed to those who have a known hypersensitivity to the said plant. This should also be used cautiously on people who have a hepatic disease. The safety of this extract for pregnant and lactating mother is not yet established, thus I, as a registered nurse, will highly recommend taking grape seed extract under these conditions to ensure safety of both the mother and the baby.

Taking 25 to 150 mg of the standardized grape seed extract benefits the body, and this should be taken 1 to 3 times daily. Young children however, are recommended to eat whole grape fruits instead as it is safe in cases of overdose. On the other hand, people who are takes this extract to resolve chronic venous insufficiency may increase the dose to 150 to 300 mg daily while a 200 to 400 mg is recommended to people who seeks relief from edema, which should be maintained daily for 10 to 30 days.

Though you know the benefits of this natural plant extract, it is then now your turn to decide if you need to include it on your daily meal. If you finally decided to include it on your list, I would be honest that the best possible way of getting it is from a complete multivitamin. This way, you'll be able to have an accurate dosage as well as get the benefits from other vitamins who works in synergy with the grape seed extract.