New findings, spearheaded by research from the University of New England, suggest that consuming grapes can bolster the skin’s protective barrier against environmental stressors through alterations in gene activity.* The detailed results were featured in the ACS Nutrition Science journal.
Grapes are rich in hundreds of naturally occurring plant compounds that researchers have long recognized for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
These compounds include quercetin, anthocyanins, and the well-known resveratrol.
Clinical investigations have previously linked regular grape consumption to improvements in cardiovascular health, reductions in inflammatory markers, enhanced gut function, and better cognitive performance in older adults.
“We are now confident that grapes are a superfood and contribute to a nutrigenomic response in humans,” noted lead author Professor John Pezzuto from the University of New England. “We observed this effect utilizing the body’s largest organ—the skin.”
Changes observed in gene expression point toward an improved condition of the skin.
However, beyond the integumentary system, it is highly probable that grape ingestion influences gene expression in other somatic tissues, such as the liver, muscles, kidneys, and even the brain.
This insight helps illuminate how dietary intake of whole foods, specifically grapes in this case, impacts our overall physiological well-being.
It is genuinely exciting to operate in the post-genomic era, where we can finally begin applying functional genomics and visualizing the intricate matrices that characterize nutrigenomic reactions.
The study involved participants who consumed an amount of grapes equivalent to three servings of whole fruit daily for a two-week period.
Gene expression in the skin was assessed both before and after grape consumption, under conditions both with and without exposure to low doses of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the skin.
The outcomes revealed inter-individual and intra-individual variability in skin gene expression.
In simpler terms, the baseline gene expression pattern in the skin differed from one person to the next.
Facial expression profiles shifted when subjects consumed grapes or were exposed to UV light, yet each individual maintained a distinct pattern separate from others.
Even more unique alterations manifested when UV exposure was combined with dietary grape intake.
Consequently, while baseline gene expression varies across individuals, each person’s gene expression profile did change following grape consumption.
In searching for functional similarities emerging from the gene expression shifts after eating grapes, researchers were able to interpret much of the data as evidence of enhanced keratinization and cornification of the skin, processes known to establish a defense against environmental challenge.
This conclusion was further corroborated by irradiating the skin with low-dose UV radiation and quantifying the formation of malondialdehyde, an oxidative stress marker, which was found to decrease when subjects had consumed grapes.
“Primarily based on transcriptomic data and theoretical protein-protein interactions, our findings support the premise that grape consumption is beneficial for skin health,” the scientists stated. “Naturally, non-coding RNAs, epigenetics, and numerous other factors that warrant further exploration also come into play.”
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