Friday May 09, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating grapes may help alleviate pain associated with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee and improve joint flexibility and mobility due most likely to polyphenols found in grapes, according to a study presented last week at the Experimental Biology conference in San Diego, California  

In the study, 72 men and women with knee osteoarthritis were assigned to eat grapes in the form of a freeze-dried whole grape powder or placebo for 16 weeks.

Shanil Juma, Ph.D. at Texas Woman's University and colleagues authors of the study found both men and women on the grape-supplemented diet experienced significantly reduced pain associated with knee osteoarthritis, compared with those on placebo. The effect was particularly significant among women.

The effect of the grape powder varies by age.  Those younger than 64 years of age experienced a 70% increase in very hard activity while those who took placebo decreased in very hard activity.

Among those older than 64 years, there was a decline in moderate to hard activities in both the group consuming grape powder and the group taking placebo.

The grape enriched diet increased cartilage metabolism in men whose levels of an important cartilage growth factor was higher than that found in the group taking placebo.  The protective effect was not found in women though. (David Liu)

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