Grapeseed Extract

Grape seed extract contains chemicals known as polyphenols (including the subclass of proanthocyanadins), which are highly effective antioxidants.
Results from some studies show that grape seed extract may help to prevent and treat heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Grape seed extract may also block the effects of enzymes that process fats, including cholesterol, from the diet. Consequently, less fat may be absorbed and more may be eliminated from the body. Other research shows that grape seed extract may help to prevent or control damage to body cells that is caused by drugs, pollution, tobacco, and other toxins.
Proanthocyanadins are also believed to block the deterioration of blood vessels, therefore, grape seed extract may improve conditions involving veins and arteries. Grapeseed extract has been used to prevent, delay, and treat a condition known as chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when valves in the veins that carry blood back to the heart are weak or damaged. The blood that collects in the veins of the legs can lead to varicose veins, spider veins, or sores on the legs. Results that are more serious may include blood clots in the legs or sores that do not heal and may become infected. Grape seed extract may also help to prevent and treat haemorrhoids (piles).
Since grape seed extract strengthen the walls of all blood vessels, it may also help to keep damaged, stretched, or stiff blood vessels from leaking. Grape seed extract may be effective for slowing retinopathy, the gradual break down of the retinas in the eyes, usually due to blood vessel damage. People with arteriosclerosis, diabetes, or other conditions that increase the likelihood for damage to the small blood vessels in the eyes are more likely to have serious vision problems. Grape seed extract may also reduce eye stress caused by bright lights. In studies of laboratory animals, grapeseed extract has shown some possible effectiveness in preventing cataract formation.
One of the polyphenols contained in grape seed extract is called resveratrol. In laboratory and animal studies, resveratrol from grape seeds has appeared to interfere with cancer cell growth and division, as well as causing some cancer cells to disintegrate faster than they would ordinarily. Therefore, resveratrol and hence grapeseed extract may have direct anticancer activity. Grapeseed extract may also increase the effectiveness and/or lower the side effects of drugs currently used for cancer chemotherapy. One possible result is that taking resveratrol during chemotherapy may allow lower doses of cancer drugs to be effective, thereby limiting the potential for debilitating side effects. A similar effect was seen in laboratory studies of grape seed extract against HIV. Although the exact ways that grape seed extract may fight HIV and other viruses are not known, it is thought that grape seed extract interferes with viral multiplication, possibly by preventing viral attachment to host cells.