Grape seed extract fights obesity

An animal study published in Nutrition Research and Practice suggests that taking grape seed extract…

An animal study published in Nutrition Research and Practice suggests that taking grape seed extract as a dietary supplement may help reverse high fat diet induced obesity and improve lipid profiles and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease.

S. H. Park from Chonbuk National University in Korea and colleagues conducted the study and found supplementation of a grape seed extract reduced the weight gain in mice on a high fat diet, compared with those on the same high fat diet without the supplementation.

Also the researchers found the grape seed extract lowered epididymal and back fat weights in mice on the high fat diet, compared with their counterparts on the high fat diet, but without supplementation of the grape seed extract.

Grape seed extract supplementation also reduced the blood lipid concentrations and increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol and acid-insoluble acylcarnitines in the blood and the liver.

These and other findings suggest that "grape seed extract supplements in high fat diet might normalize body weight, epididymal and back fat weights, lipid concentrations, and carnitine levels through controlling lipid metabolism," the researchers write.