As the summer season ends and the leaves start to turn into their autumn hues, grape lovers get excited. Crisp evenings. Red leaves on tree and vine. Wood smoke from that first fire of the season. Feeling cozy inside as the night flirts with frost. And grapes. Great big bunches of them hanging heavy on the vines, waiting to be picked. What more could a grape lover ask for?
Number One: Grapes
Our love affair with grapes has persisted through many centuries. Millions of people have enjoyed their flavour, and recognized their benefits. And it’s not just for the wine lovers! Fresh grapes and raisins have been part of the human diet, culture and folklore since time began. These days, grapes – wine and fresh – occupy the greatest number of hectares under cultivation worldwide, more than any other plant crop. (As of 2014, the worldwide vineyard was 7.5 million hectares, down from 8 million in 2006). Close to 8 million tons of grapes are produced annually in the USA alone – that’s a lot of grapes! Never mind the rest of the world. So why are grapes so popular in our cuisine and on our tables?
Grapes Have Anti-Aging Properties
As it so happens, grapes have some powerful health benefits. More and more research is emerging on the benefits of including them in your diet. These include:
- Reduced risk of Alzheimer’s and other age – related reasons for cognitive decline. The reasons for this are largely due to the polyphenols found in all parts of the grape – most notably, phenolic acids and anthocyanins. These compounds appear to halt age – related cognitive decline, and to improve memory in elderly study participants.
- Flavonoids (a member of the family of polyphenols) appear to offer protection to your eyes as you age, showing protective properties against macular degeneration and age – related cataracts.
- Proanthocyanidins might be a mouthful to say, but they have unique properties that help in the fight against aging. They prevent the breakdown of collagen fibres in the skin, joints, arteries, capillaries, and other connective tissues. Who doesn’t want more youthful looking skin?!
Fight Against Chronic Illnesses & Boost Immunity
Grapes are good for long-term health. These are some of the ways they help to guard against chronic illnesses and boost immunity:
- Grapes are high in vitamins that boost your immunity – A, C & K. They are especially useful in the fight against contagious illnesses such as colds and flu. In addition, vitamin K is essential for normal blood clotting after an injury or surgery, and vitamin A is necessary for a whole host of functions, including hormonal health and reproduction.
- Resveratrol, in particular, appears to be useful in treating diabetes, as it inhibits insulin resistance. This was found in studies using Grape Skin Extract (GSE). Resveratrol is found in the skin of the grape, and the highest concentration is found in red grapes.
- Proanthocyanidins might be a mouthful to say, but they have unique properties that help in the fight against aging. They prevent the breakdown of collagen fibres in the skin, joints, arteries, capillaries, and other connective tissues. Who doesn’t want more youthful looking skin?!
- Studies have shown that red grapes have powerful anti – microbial properties and are capable of helping infections in the gut and other parts of the body.
- Anthocyanins also appear to offer protection against several kinds of heart disease – notably coronary artery disease and heart attack. It also proved to be useful in controlling high blood pressure.
- Anthocyanins were named as being handy anti – cancer compounds, with the ability to inhibit tumour growth, and induce cancer cell apoptosis – the death of cancer cells. Anthocyanins give grapes and other fruits their red, purple or blue colour (blueberries are an excellent source of anthocyanins).
- The polyphenols at large are powerful anti inflammatories, which makes them useful in providing protection against some of the common inflammatory disorders such as asthma, joint inflammation, and arthritis.
How To Get More Grapes Into Your Diet
Debate continues to rage over the health benefits of wine versus fresh grapes. While some of us may prefer our grapes to come in a wine bottle, most, if not all, of the benefits can also be found in fresh grapes. And they are so delicious that they are easy to eat as a fresh fruit.
- Try grapes in a smoothie or as a raw juice. You can add other things such as baby spinach and beetroot leaves, some carrot or beetroot, an apple, or some kale – the sweetness of the grapes makes a delicious juice.
- Halve them and use them as a breakfast topper
- Eat them sliced in half on bread, with peanut butter
- Pack some as a snack for that afternoon slump time at work. They are better for you than chocolate!
- Use them in salads – they add a sweet tang to a mixed salad (seedless ones work best)
- Use them to make funny faces out of salad ingredients – your kids will love it!
The Fresher The Better
With all the research on the benefits of various compounds found in grapes, supplements abound, but as is most often the case, fresh is best. Different compounds complement and enhance each other and researchers are yet to discover many of the ways they interact. So when you eat the whole grape, you get all of them in one delicious, bite – sized package.
When choosing a nice fresh grape, check for damage, mould and rotten ones in the bunch. They should be a good colour with a light “blush” on the skin. Avoid any that are dull coloured, marked, or shrivelled. Fresh ones should should have a crisp texture. 
Take Grape Delight
These are just some of the many reasons to eat grapes – and they are so good for you that you don’t even need an excuse to indulge! Bon appetit!
References:
http://www.althealth.co.uk/help-and-advice/miscellaneous/proanthocyanidins/
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/resveratrol-supplements
http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/030314p20.shtml
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Here in the southern hemisphere, eastern Australia has been enjoying what seems like endless summer: day after day of blue skies, warm temperatures and sunshine. It should be cool at this time of year. So when the bubble bursts and the cold weather finally arrives, it will be a shock, and no doubt, there will be many complaints! But before we give in to the temptation to moan about the cold, just pause for a moment: there are some really beneficial things about the cooler weather – it’s actually good for your body! Sounds implausible, doesn’t it?!
You Think More Clearly
Researchers have discovered that when the weather turns cold, you think more clearly, are more adept at making decisions, and your cognitive function is better. The reason is quite simple: your body’s primary fuel source is glucose, and one of its most important tasks is temperature regulation: we shiver to warm up, or sweat to cool down. However, it appears that these tasks are not equal in energy requirement: cooling down uses more fuel than warming up. Therefore, in cooler weather, the brain has more access to fuel for cognitive tasks than it does in the warmer weather (and a disclaimer here: researchers found that people who live in either warm or cool climates adapt, making their cognitive function the same as people anywhere else. The main differences in cognitive function seem to arise when people face sudden changes in temperature).
You Use More Energy
This sounds like good news for those who want to lose weight, doesn’t it? In particularly cold temperatures, you can use up to five times more calories in an hour than when the weather is warm. Not only that, but researchers have discovered that the effects can last for hours afterwards: you burn more energy after exercising in the cold. The downside is comfort food! We are more prone to the temptation of indulging in energy-rich foods as our bodies crave those extra calories. If we aren’t burning the extra that we consume, we often find that the cold weather has been less than kind to our waistlines. Which makes the next point even more important…
Exercise Feels Good 
There is nothing more invigorating than a walk or a run on a cold day. We are able to think clearer, breathe that crisp, fresh air, and feel better about ourselves. Our bodies perform better in the cold weather than the heat when it comes to exercise, and it’s far more enjoyable than dragging yourself through your exercise routine when it’s hot and humid, and you’re pouring sweat and struggling to stay cool. That’s not fun for anyone! We don’t have to be out in the cold for long periods of time, either: as little as twenty minutes of exercise in cold weather can make us feel good.
You Sleep Better In Cold Weather
Who has ever tossed and turned during a hot night? I have! It’s easier to sleep when it’s cold because you can warm up by adding an extra layer to your bed if you need it, but cooling down is much harder. Cold weather makes it possible to create the optimum temperature for sleeping, and you are likely to enjoy a better quality sleep than when the weather is hot.
Cold Weather Freezes The Bugs
Go outside on a summer evening, and you have to have the insect repellant handy: there are swarms of bugs just waiting to eat you alive. Mosquitoes, biting flies, gnats, sandflies – the list goes on. But in cold weather, you can go outside without fear of attracting leeches, ticks or any other bug that wants dinner at your expense. Cold weather is good for the garden, too: all the warm – weather pests and diseases are absent. Which leads to the next point…
Disease-Carrying Organisms Are Reduced
In many parts of the world, deadly diseases come with the warmer weather – malaria and dengue fever being notable ones. In cold weather, these diseases are greatly reduced. Usually, we are so busy with the cold that winter brought our way, we don’t notice the absence of something far more deadly. Cold weather breaks the cycle of some infectious diseases. Mosquitoes that carry these diseases are unable to survive winters with temperatures of less than 10 degrees (celsius), so even though these mosquitoes might stray into cooler areas, they are unable to survive when winter comes.
We Burn More Brown Fat
Why is that important? Denis Blondin, a researcher at the University of Ottawa, says that while we tend to think of fat as keeping us warm, brown fat acts as a fuel – burning furnace and cold weather leads us to burn more of it. He says it’s particularly helpful for those with diabetes or obesity because it uses up excess glucose. Brown fat produces heat, which takes a lot of energy, and cold weather leads to a greater demand for fuel.
We Feel Invigorated When Spring Comes
A change is as good as a holiday, they say, and seasons are no exception. The cold weather leads us to be thankful when the balmy days of spring arrive, the days lengthen, and we look forward to the summer months ahead. For those of us who hate the cold, spring brings a new sense of wellbeing and purpose, and we can be thankful and enjoy the warm days ahead. The change of seasons gives us a mental boost and lifts our spirits.
Winter is not all doom and gloom and infectious illnesses! There are some good things about it, and importantly, we find what we are looking for. So go ahead and embrace the good things about cold weather, and make the most of the season before it passes.