UM is gaining on grape research

Crazy research, and crazy doesn't mean bad, is always coming out of the University of Michigan. And here's one more. Grapes. Who knew that eating grapes would lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes? UM did. And now you do, too.

Excerpt:

Could eating grapes slow what's for many Americans a downhill sequence of high blood pressure and insulin resistance leading to heart disease and type 2 diabetes?
 
Scientists at the University of Michigan Health System are teasing out clues to the effect of grapes in reducing risk factors related to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. The effect is thought to be due to phytochemicals -- naturally occurring antioxidants – that grapes contain.
 
Findings from a new animal study will be presented today at the Experimental Biology convention in Anaheim, Calif., and show encouraging results of a grape-enriched diet preventing risk factors for metabolic syndrome, a condition affecting an estimated 50 million Americans and is often a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
 
Researchers studied the effect of regular table grapes (a blend of green, red and black grapes) that were mixed into a powdered form and integrated into the diets of laboratory rats as part of a high-fat, American style diet. All of the rats used were from a research breed that is prone to being overweight.
 
Read the entire article here.
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