If you have read my post on grape seed you may be wondering where to buy grape seed extract. You can buy grape seed extract at any well stocked health store. Even Fred Myers and other similar outlets usually stock the wonderful inflammation fighting extract of grapes.
Grape seed extract is very popular simply because it is highly anti-inflammatory. So ANY condition that involves inflammation such as IBD (Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, Celiac Disease), gallbladder disease, sphincter of oddi dysfunction, cancer, heart disease, arthritis or a myriad of other conditions involving inflammation would likely benefit from a healthy dosing of grape seed extract [1].
GSE has also been proven to help lower blood pressure in a study done at UC Davis. And in other scholar type articles it has been shown to kill cancer cells. It does not cure hangnails nor does it cure any disease that I’m aware of. It simply fights inflammation like a well trained prize fighter.
Where to Buy Grape Seed Extract For The Best Price
I personally buy it through Amazon.com simply because it’s always less expensive, they ship free and the customer service is excellent. I’ve even had them ship me a complete new set of ordered product because I di not receive it even though they thought I had. I was amazed. I had made a fairly large purchase of supplements and simply thought they were running late but …
Amazon sent me their normal emails saying it had shipped and another asking for reviews on the purchased products. I simply wrote them saying I hadn’t received it and they wrote back saying they had just reshipped the whole order and I should have it soon! That made me a customer for life.
I never did receive the original order so somewhere along the line something happened. But Amazon made it right. That is why I feel totally confident in recommending Amazon to you. I know that no matter what the case they will make sure you are pleased.
Who Discovered The Benefits Of Grape Extract?
Jacques Masquelier (aka Jack Masquelier, born in 1922 in Paris, died 24 February 2009) is the French scientist credited with the discovery of oligomeric proanthocyanidins or OPCs. OPCs are the powrful polyphenol flavonoids found in grapes (the pulp, skins and seeds). These polyphenols are the inflammation fighters.
Masquelier actually discovered OPC’s in the skin of peanuts however he went on to find it in grape seed and French Maritime Pine Bark as well.
He developed an extraction process and then proceeded to trade name his product Pycnogenol. In other words nobody, neither manufacturer or seller of grape seed and/or pine bark products, can call their concoction Pycnogenol. Masquelier who is now dead as of 2009 is the only one with that right.
Masquelier promoted that his Pycnogenol could relieve symptoms of or cure almost anything, from hangnails to cancer.
Other promoters say similar things but I rely only on what I can discern from my own personal experience and the scientific research I have been able to dig up. You of course need to do your own research and make your own decision in regards to using grape seed extract.
WHY I Use Grape Seed Extract
I personally discovered this incredible extract made from the seeds of grapes in 1994 and …
I thought that its benefits were simply to good to be true. You know if it sounds to good to be true it probably is thing?
But I gave GSE a try because I had chronic pancreatitis along with some all to common acute pancreatitis episodes and quite frankly I was searching for some way to beat the condition.
What did I find out?
I found out the proclaimed benefits of grape seed extract are true, at least in my case, as real and true as the nose on your face.
I don’t recall exactly how long it was before I saw some real benefit but I don’t believe it was more than a few weeks.
I started feeling better, the pain began to be less frequent and the tenderness in my abdomen began to fade.
I thought these finding about grape seed and what it was doing for my pancreas was nothing short of amazing.
Why Does Grape Seed Extract Help My Pancreatitis?
Grape seed is full of flavonoids, called OPC’s (oligomeric proanthocyanidins), and it is these flavonoids that seem to be responsible for the benefits seen by those who consume grape seed extract.
In my case and most likely yours as well the reason grape seed works for beating pancreatitis is that it eliminates inflammation and pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas.
Previously I mentioned that I believe it is because of grape seed extract I am still alive and in essence that is what I believe but there are several other factors involved as well such as a particularily low fat diet and several dietary supplements, one of which is grape seed extract.
Compelling Research On The Seed of Grapes
I have my own personal experience to draw from but you don’t know me from Paul Bunyan so …
It is important that you do your own research on grape seed extract.
I have compiled some sources here for you to begin with, a “One Stop Shop” so to speak on the benefits of grape seed extract and OPC’s.
One thing I want to point out in regards to research on grape seed extract or any supplement or drug for that matter is that …
The research is NOT iron clad proof that anything will help you, grape seed extract included.
All you can do is to try grape seed and see what happens over 30 – 60 – 90 days or longer. If it works for you, you will either FEEL the difference or medical tests (CT scans, EUS etc) may actually show improvement that can not be explained away – that would be great right?
1) “Topical application of GSPE enhances sun protection factor in human volunteers, as well as supplementation of GSPE ameliorates chronic pancreatitis in humans. These results demonstrate that GSPE provides excellent protection against oxidative stress and free radical-mediated tissue injury.”[2] – Science Direct (last two sentences of the abstract)
By the way the word ” ameliorates” is the above article quote means to make better or more tolerable.
2) “Three patients with chronic pancreatitis (two with a history of alcohol excess and one idiopathic) are reported. Treatment with narcotic analgesics and pancreatic enzyme supplements had failed to control their symptoms. The addition of a commercially available IH636 grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (commercially known as ActiVin) to their treatment regimen led to a reduction in the frequency and intensity of abdominal pain as well as resolution of vomiting in 1 patient.”[3] – PubMed
3) Grape seed extract may be beneficial in fighting chronic asthma. “The elevated hydroxyproline contents, lung α-SMA contents, and TGF-β1 protein expression that were observed in the OVA mice were also inhibited by GSPE. In conclusion, GSPE could inhibit airway inflammation and airway remodeling in a murine model of chronic asthma, thus providing a potential treatment for asthma.”[4]
4) GRAPE SEED PROCYANIDIN EXTRACT MEDIATES ANTINEOPLASTIC EFFECTS AGAINST LUNG CANCER VIA MODULATIONS OF PROSTACYCLIN AND 15-HETE EICOSANOID PATHWAYS. “Grape seed procyanidin extract (GSE) has been reported to exert antineoplastic properties via the inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) eicosanoid pathways.” [5]
I could fill up this whole page with compelling research but I think you might be getting the picture 🙂
What Grape Seed Do I Use?
I use Now Foods GSE and it works well. It is gluten free. It is also free of other common allergens. The Now Foods product is a good value as well because you get two hundred (200) 100 mg caps for around $20 and each capsule contains 90% polyphenols. This means you get 90 milligrams of pure grape seed in each capsule.
Plus you also get 300 milligarms of vitamin C in each capsule which is a good thing. Vitamin C is another highly anti-inflammatory antioxidant which has been proven to help fight pancreatic cancer. This is important because chronic pancreatitis increases pancreatic cancer risk. So this GSE product by Now Foods provides a “two-for.” A good bang for the buck.
For a complete list of the supplements I use daily, including grape seed extract and some info about WHY they are necessary for those who are fighting inflammation go here.
References:
- J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2016 Aug 26. doi: 10.1111/jpn.12586. [Epub ahead of print]
Effects of polyphenol-rich plant products from grape or hop as feed supplements on the expression of inflammatory, antioxidative, cytoprotective and endoplasmic reticulum stress-related genes and the antioxidative status in the liver of piglets.
Gessner DK1, Bonarius M1, Most E1, Fiesel A1, Eder K1.
Author information
1Institute of Animal Nutrition and Nutrition Physiology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany. - ScienceDirect – Free radicals and grape seed proanthocyanidin extract: importance in human health and disease prevention – Debasis Bagchia, Manashi Bagchia, Sidney J Stohsa, Dipak K Dasb, Sidhartha D Rayc, Charles A Kuszynskid, Shantaram S Joshid, Harry G Pruesse
- Beneficial effects of a novel IH636 grape seed proanthocyanidin extract in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis – Banerjee B1, Bagchi D. – 1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63106, USA. bbanerje@im.wustl.edu
- Nat Prod Commun. 2015 Feb;10(2):257-62.
Proanthocyanidin from grape seed extract inhibits airway inflammation and remodeling in a murine model of chronic asthma.
Zhou DY, Fang SR, Zou CF, Zhang Q, Gu W. -
Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2016 Sep 22. pii: canprevres.0122.2016. [Epub ahead of print]
GRAPE SEED PROCYANIDIN EXTRACT MEDIATES ANTINEOPLASTIC EFFECTS AGAINST LUNG CANCER VIA MODULATIONS OF PROSTACYCLIN AND 15-HETE EICOSANOID PATHWAYS.
Mao JT1, Smoake J2, Park H2, Lu QY3, Xue B2.
Author information
1Pulmonary and Critical Care Section, New Mexico VA Healthcare System/UNM Jenny.Mao@va.gov.
2Pulmonary and Critical Care Section, NMVAHCS/UNM.
3Center for Human Nutrition, University of California, Los Angeles.