Eating grapes can help protect against sunburns, skin cancer: study – CTV
Dec. 1, 2022
The grape is beloved around the world as a food and beverage staple that offers a lot of nutritional benefits, and new research suggests there might be another reason to love it: sunburn protection.
A small, peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in the scientific journal Antioxidants found that consuming grapes protected against ultraviolet (UV) skin damage in a group of 29 human volunteers.
Researchers from universities in Massachusetts and New York monitored the volunteers as they consumed whole grape powder – equivalent to 2 ¼ cups of grapes – each day for two weeks. They measured subjects’ skin response to UV radiation before and after eating the grapes, and found that, by the end of the study, one-third of the subjects showed increased resistance to sunburn. The authors said that resistance was likely linked to polyphenols, naturally-occurring compounds found in grapes that work as antioxidants in the body.
Analysis of gut microbiome, blood, and urine samples showed the same subjects who demonstrated UV resistance also had unique microbiome and metabolic characteristics that the researchers said suggested a link between people’s genes, their gut health and their skin health. In other words, some people’s genetic profiles include digestive and metabolic traits that allow them to enjoy resistance to sunburns after eating grapes.
