The Power Of Grapes For A Healthy Heart
Heart disease is prevalent these days, thanks to poor dieting and exercise habits. Heck, women are starting to die from it at a faster rate than the men! It is rather shocking to know that in many cases, the heart disease could have been avoided. Luckily, for some it is not too late to make changes. You can still improve the cardiac health and revitalize your body into lean, mean heart disease fighting machine.
It's a simple thing really but did you know that grapes have the power to reduce or turn back the trend of heart disease? There are some powerful components in this vine fruit like flavonoids which are powerful antioxidants that can help reduce blood pressure, prevent blood clotting, vamp up the cardiovascular system and even reduce cholesterol levels.
Flavonoid Power
The standard for maintaining your health in the face of heart disease has long been taking the aspirin a day approach. However, many diet studies have shown that daily consumption of flavonoids can actually be more effective. Of course, you have to adopt other healthier lifestyle choices like a better diet and exercise.
Heart attacks usually are the result of blood clots traveling through the blood vessels which encounter the plaque or fatty deposits that are on the walls of arteries. When the clots stick to these deposits, they can effectively block blood flow, causing heart attacks. Aspirin helped prevent the blood clots from being to sticky so as to prevent them from latching onto the plaque build-up. Flavonoids help do the same thing.
Flavonoids can be found in a number of foods and grapes top the list, specifically the dark colored kinds like red and purple. Not only do they prevent the stickiness of blood clots but they also provide anti-inflammatory properties for your body. The color pigments in the grapes are linked to anthocyanins, a powerful flavonoid with these properties. Other foods that also have these anthocyanins include deep colored berries as well as certain seeds.
Aspirin is not tolerated well by all people as it has the power to produce ulcers and other gastrointestinal side effects. Therefore, the flavonoids found in grapes are good news for these people. In fact, these powerful antioxidants help thin the blood enough for better flow and can actually prevent coronary artery disease, all the while protecting the stomach.
These flavonoids can be consumed by eating the dark red and purple grapes. However, these may not always be available in the produce section of your grocery store. You can get similar benefits from drinking dark purple grape juice. Remember, the powerful antioxidants are linked to the darker colors so the lighter white grape juice will not work. Red wine is another way to garner these flavonoids with the great antioxidant powers. Because it is an alcoholic beverage, only a glass is day is recommended.
The good news about consuming these grapes, juice or wine is that the effect of these flavonoids lingers on for several days. So if you cannot consume them every day that is ok. It is still working its magic on your blood and cardiovascular system.
