Grapes offer a spread of health advantages, including boosting immunity, promoting cardiovascular health and regulating blood sugar levels as they’re wealthy in potassium. But what number of grapes should one eat in a day? Researchers say three servings can be ideal.

The study, published within the journal Scientific Reports, has found that grapes may also have a positive impact on gut health by increasing the abundance of useful gut bacteria, giving us yet another excuse for incorporating grapes into the dietary routine.

How essential is the gut microbiota?

The gut microbiota is crucial for human health, impacting various points resembling digestion, immune function, nutrient absorption and even influencing conditions like obesity, diabetes and mental health.

Researchers, considering the impact of various nutrients on the microbiome, have turned their attention to specific foods like grapes to explore their potential advantages in promoting the expansion and variety of the gut microbiome.

Besides the known advantages of grapes for heart health, memory improvement and protection against colon cancer, researchers have found that they may also help decrease inflammation within the body.

“Since we all know that food regimen can modulate the gut microbiome, and we all know that dietary grapes can have some effects on health, it is cheap to ask: can grapes modulate the gut microbiome? This may occasionally be related to the general mechanism of motion,” John M. Pezzuto, dean and professor of pharmaceutics of the Western Recent England University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, explained to Medical News Today (MNT).

How do three servings of grapes impact microbiome production?

Researchers tracked 41 healthy people, with only 29 of them completing the study. Out of the participants, 22 were female (53.7%) and 19 were male (46.3%). The ages of the participants ranged from 20.9 to 55.7 years, with a median age of 39.8 years.

When the participants were made to devour grapes for 2 weeks, certain forms of gut bacteria, resembling Holdemania spp., decreased, while others like Streptococcus thermophiles increased.

Some exhibited changes of their microbiome even 30 days after stopping grape consumption, suggesting that the results of eating grapes could be delayed.

“It’s logical to think a number of the microorganisms found the grapes desirable and flourished, whereas others didn’t. The matter could be very complex, but additionally, if one member of the microbial community begins to flourish, that will in itself affect the abundance of others,” Pezzuto told MNT.

“Since each of the microbial members throughout the community have their very own enzymes that take part in various metabolic pathways, shifting abundance will shift enzyme and pathway levels, either up or down,” he added.

Concentrate, made out of grapes like these, is certainly one of the products in query.
AFP / SAFIN HAMED

Published by Medicaldaily.com