Sunday Oct 12, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study conducted by Chinese researchers suggests grape seed extract supplements may lower blood sugar or glucose and serum lipids in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus patients who do not take anti-diabetic medications and follow a modified diet cannot deal with glucose normally, leading to hyperglycemia or high blood sugar, which is the prime feature of diabetes mellitus.

In the study, some diabetic rats orally supplemented with grape seed extract - procyanidin fractions with different degrees of polymerizations were compared with diabetic rats that did not receive any treatment.

At the end of the six-week supplementation, grape seed extract procyanidin supplements were found to significantly decrease blood sugar, serum lipids and hepatic oxidative stress, compared with controls.

And compared to the polymeric forms, grape seed extract procyanidin oligomers were found to have a stronger anti-diabetic effect.

Early studies indicate that resveratrol found in grape seed extract may help fight cancer.  Grape seed extract may also help heal skin wounds, inhibit oral sugar metabolism and retard the growth of bacteria that would otherwise cause dental caries, enhance bone density, prevent the skin from sunlight-induced carcinogenesis, fight viruses and bacteria and improve the liver function and balance blood flow.  (David Liu, PH.D)

Wu Z, Shen S, Jiang J, Tan D, Jiang D, Bai B, Sun X, Fu S. Protective effects of grape seed extract fractions with different degrees of polymerisation on blood glucose, lipids and hepatic oxidative stress in diabetic rats.  Nat Prod Res. 2014 Oct 7:1-5.  

Contact information: College of Food Science, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110866, P.R. China.