In July of 2006, after my first year of chemotherapy of brain cancer my doctor told me my cholesterol was too high. He wanted to start me on Zocor. I told him no. I wanted to find and try nutritional remedies first.
I found plenty of evidence supporting Grape Seed Oil’s (GSO) beneficial effects on human cholesterol levels out on the web and published in medical journals. In July of 2006, I added significant quantities of GSO and Oat Bran (previous blog) to my diet. By August of 2007, my HDL’s (good cholesterol) ratio to my overall cholesterol had improved by 33% and my LDLs had dropped 38 points (For Table of results scroll down and look right).
What Is Grape Seed Oil:
GSO is one of wine making’s most healthy by-products. It is pressed from the residual seeds. As happened in my case, studies show that adding significant GSO in the diet can substantially raise HDL cholesterol and even bring down LDLs. Dr. Gourmet notes two specific studies in an article on the topic titled The Health of It All – Grape Seed Oil and Cholesterol. The first, published in the Journal of Arteriosclerosis in 1990, reported that subjects who consumed 1oz. of GSO daily showed a 13-14 percent increase in HDL Cholesterol. The second, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed a 7% drop in LDL cholesterol as well as a 13% increase in HDL when subjects consumed 1.5 oz of GSO daily. These studies took place over a 6-week time spans. Related studies have found that the higher HDL cholesterol is relative to total cholesterol, the lower the tested subjects’ incidence of heart disease and arteriosclerosis becomes. This is why HDL Cholesterol is called “good cholesterol”. According to When Food Is Your Best Friend, an article published in the Alternative Medicine Digest, GSO is “… a highly concentrated source (76%) of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid (EFA) also know as omega-6 acid.... It (linoleic acid) is needed for the production of prostaglandins, hormone-like substances in the body involved in reducing platelets aggregation (blood clotting) and inflammation.”
One of GSO’s biggest antioxidant constituents is vitamin E. That is probably why many of the articles on the web noting GSO’s health benefits point out it is a popular ingredient in cosmetics. Vitamin E is good for cellular health in general and also is used in the food industry as a natural preservative.
Cooking with Grape Seed Oil:
Cooking With Grape Seed Oil:
GSO is mild and nutty in flavor, with a slight astringent quality. I like using it in sautés, salad dressings, and in baking. It has a very high smoke point, which makes it among the best oils for high heat applications. While it is supposed to be good for deep-frying, I haven’t had much success with that. I don’t do much deep-frying anyway. As was the case with Oat Bran, I found that adding enough GSO to my diet to positively effect my cholesterol situation was very easy. 1-1.5oz of oil is nearly always already present in the average person’s daily diet. If you are a person who obsesses over minimal fat intake, you should look at what kinds of lipids are in the mix, not only totals. For instance, GSO is low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Healthy lipids are a vital part of any diet, perhaps with the exception of short-term detox diets that focus on the liver. By far the least expensive source I have found for GSO is Costco.
Smarter Cookies and Grape Seed Oil:
GSO is a major ingredient in all Smarter Cookie recipes. Our five Smarter Cookies recipes vary, offering between 3-6gm of GSO per cookie. This means that relative to the 1oz per day study cited above, Smarter Cookies offer 10-20% of the daily intake required to show equivalent results. Relative to the second study, Smarter Cookies offer from 7-15% of the required intake to show equivalent results.
Summary/What’s Next:
While this post covered many of GSO’s benefits, discussing cooking with GSO without looking the best parameters of cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil leaves this look at GSO incomplete. In the next episode of Nutrition Talks – A Survivor’s Take, I will look at GSO, with and vs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. There will also be a brief section on Grape Seed Extract, which is also a by-product of wine making. Sold as a supplement, Grape Seed Extract is very worth learning about.
Interested In Trying Smarter Cookies? - See top of page or bottom.
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References:
http://www.grapeseedoil.com/alternativemedicinearticle.php
http://www.drgourmet.com/health/grapeseedoil-cholesterol.shtml
http://www.ehow.com/about_5548803_side-grape-seed-oil-extract.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape_seed_oil
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